Different Beginnings
by Blandusername
Summary: Naruto's origin was different than normal. A sealing that didn't affect him. No innate desire to become Hokage, only to discover who he is and rise through the ranks to be Elite. AU. Grey!Naruto ANBU!Naruto.
1. Prologue

**This story is heavily AU, it will focus on Naruto who never received the Nine-Tails. More will be explained as the story goes. (Warning- This story contains OCs to fill the gaps.)**

* * *

Naruto ducked under a slash, he could feel the wind come off the kunai that nearly severed his head. Jumping back he reached into his rapidly emptying shinobi pouch and palmed his last kunai, he took a breath, he and his assailant charged at one another. Naruto lunged his weapon forward but was parried and was then rewarded by a cut to his chest. Frowning he threw his kunai with as much strength as he could muster. His opponent leaned out of the way of the kunai making Naruto smirk.

The _Kawarimi no Jutsu_ was special in that it required very minimal chakra to utilize. The jutsu used a persons chakra to latch onto a target and would switch positions in the blink of an eye. Trained shinobi could keep up with the jutsu, but for someone at Naruto's level it might as well be instantaneous. As the Kunai flew past his opponent, Naruto molded his chakra outward to latch onto the kunai and replace himself with it, as he appeared behind his opponent he leveled an axe-kick to the back of his neck causing it to destabilize and burst into water.

Naruto let out a breath at the fifth clone defeated, his training for today was long-term Taijutsu engagements. Like fighting opponents one after another five times, one wasn't hard but mix in exhaustion and it became quite the challenge.

Looking at the puddle of water Naruto smiled to himself, the _Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu_ was his newest jutsu and has been beneficial for his training. Since he now has something to hit and it would hit back it made sparring possible without anyone around. The main drawback of the jutsu was that it only had ten percent of the users chakra meaning that it wouldn't last very long in real combat and would be better as a distraction or replacement.

Normally Naruto would continue training for today, but tomorrow was a big day for him as it would be his first day as a Genin. Today he managed to pass the graduation exam as the rookie of the year- an impressive three years early. It wasn't unheard of for someone to finish the academy early but in the recent peace times it was quite achievement, although nobody really cared. Naruto was one of the quieter students in class, preferring to do his work then continue training after class. He didn't try to make friends nor did anyone try with him, he had his goal and the sooner he accomplished it the better.

Naruto's time in the academy wasn't special, he climbed through the academy with precision and patience. Constantly training and studying proved to be just as effective as being a natural born genius. Naruto hated the word genius, to him it was an insult since it was like saying that he didn't have to work hard since he learned so easily. Naruto constantly trained and studied to get as far as he did and wouldn't let anyone take that away from him.

Naruto walked back over to his backpack and picked up his jacket, it was a gift from his sensei at the academy, it was dark grey with several layers of protection and weather resistant material. Apparently all the Rookie of the Year's got something equivalent and Naruto was extremely grateful for it. As an orphan, money wasn't something he had an abundance of and a jacket like this costed a fortune.

Most would ask why a recent Academy Grad would want to train on the day of his graduation but it was for the simple reason that he didn't consider graduating a major accomplishment. That and he had no one to celebrate with, his favorite ramen stand was recently vandalized by the village's resident prankster- Sarutobi Kento, the son of the Third Hokage's oldest child. With Ichiraku out of commission Naruto just decided to go train before heading back to his apartment.

Naruto has been spending the past few months during his down time to read into the art of Illusions. Genjutsu was a complex branch of the shinobi arts that had countless applications in the shinobi world and Naruto wanted to master it. So far thanks to his research he has managed to create a low-level Genjutsu that altered a persons perception making them think that they were seeing double. Without a training partner he could only go so far in the field of Genjutsu so he was left with the task of research and developing his own techniques.

Tomorrow would be the first step toward his dream of attaining the coveted _Elite Jōnin_ status in the village. Very few were ever referred to as Elite, it was only achieved by the very best of Jōnin which was an already difficult rank to reach. If Naruto were to attain the level of Elite Jōnin he would be given the highest clearance in the village, second only to the Hokage and with that he would learn who his parents were. The only thing he knew about them was that they died when he was around a year old during the Kyūbi attack. He was in the same boat as most of the kids in the orphanage so the only way he would find out the identity of his mother and father was to go looking for himself and for that he needed clearance to look through hospital records.

xXx

Naruto sat atop of one of the three tree stumps in the training field he was told to go to for his Genin test. Training Ground 3 was home to an unspectacular open grass field and a small pond off to the side. Naruto did like the peaceful feel of the area but was getting tired of waiting for his sensei.

Kakashi Hatake, and A-Rank Elite Jōnin and prodigy in his own right. The blond had heard that the man was one of the strongest Jōnin in the village or one of them at least. Such a sensei would surely help Naruto get to his required level much faster than on his own.

The man met them yesterday after team placements and told them that they would meet here the next day. Naruto didn't know why they had to wait yet another day but he decided to use his free day to train in preparation for today. He was happy with his training yesterday and his sensei.

Naruto wasn't happy with his team however.

Hideo was the dead-last of his graduating class- he was lazy and abysmal in Taijutsu. The only reason he managed to pass was that he was somewhat decent in Ninjutsu. He wasn't anything spectacular, an orphan much like himself although he remembers his mother, unlike Naruto.

Misao was less of an annoyance for now, she was passable in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu and had a good head on her shoulders but Naruto still considered her a weak link. Hopefully they will catch up quick so that they won't slow him down on their first mission outside the village.

Naruto looked up from his seated position when he heard someone land right in front of him. Kakashi Hatake managed to arrive a spectacular two hours late with an apologetic smile on his face, Naruto reserved his judgement.

"Sorry everyone I was held up at my apartment building I went upstairs instead of down and was rightly confused." He said while rubbing the back of his head making Naruto sweat-drop at the obvious lie, something must have been going on that he couldn't tell them.

Kakashi fished out a timer from his shinobi pouch and set it on the stump next to Naruto. "Your goal is to take a bell from me. The one without a bell at the end fails and gets sent back to the academy."

Naruto readied himself and waited for Kakashi to start the test. The Jōnin signaled for them to begin and the three Genin shot off into the tree line to prepare themselves for the test and to try and find a way to take the bells off Kakashi's belt.

On one of the branches Naruto weaved through three hand-seals and sent out a stream of chakra towards kakashi. Once he felt the affects of his Genjutsu take place Naruto fed as much chakra into he legs as he safely could and shot off towards Kakashi like a cannonball.

Kakashi heard someone to his right and turned to see two Naruto's flying at him with respectable speed. He angled himself so that as soon as the Naruto's got within range he could catch both of them and slam them onto the ground.

Reaching out Kakashi grabbed both of the blonds wrists, he was momentarily thrown off balance when one of the Naruto's turned out to be an illusion but wasn't a Jōnin for nothing and managed to pin Naruto on the ground.

Naruto grunted to himself, it was stupid to think that his low-level Genjutsu would have been enough for a Shinobi of Kakashi's caliber. Foolish and quite sloppy, he wouldn't get anywhere at this rate.

"That was a good try. But you'll have to do much more if you want a bell." Lectured Kakashi before disappearing in a burst of speed. Naruto pushed himself up from the ground and looked around for Kakashi only to see that he wasn't in the clearing any longer.

Naruto knew that facing off against an Elite Jōnin would be down right impossible by himself but he doubted that having his teammates help would be worth it. Hideo was too lazy to help and would likely get in his way and Misao was just as bad since she didn't have anything special to offer, mediocre Taijutsu was just as useless as terrible Taijutsu against an opponent that was leagues above you.

Naruto decided to use his head, stuffing his hand into his shinobi pouch he felt around and did a mental inventory of his weapons on hand- several kunai and shuriken, a few explosive notes and some ninja wire. An idea formed in his head before he went to work in the little area around himself.

Off in the distance Naruto could hear the fight going on between Kakashi and one of his teammates, the blond wondered if Kakashi was going easy on them or if he was waiting for something specific to happen before the test ended. As much faith as the blond had in his plan he doubted that an Elite Jōnin would be defeated by it. But when in doubt, wing it and hope for the best.

The fighting in the distance seemed to have ended when the sounds died down and Naruto jumped up to a tree branch and molded his chakra. A steady flow of chakra crawled towards Kakashi, then he created a _Mizu Bunshin_ next to him on the tree and casted his _Yaezaki no Jutsu_ to make Kakashi see double once more.

As expected when Kakashi appeared in the clearing he didn't bother looking around, he was reading some book and. His first mistake when dealing with Naruto.

The clone Naruto launched at Kakashi in a mirror image of Naruto's earlier assault. Kakashi let out an unimpressed sigh, he expected more from the rookie of the year. Deciding to do the same thing as last time he subtly shifted his body so that once Naruto was within range he would grab him and the 'copy' and re-introduce them to the ground.

As Kakashi grabbed Naruto then slammed him onto the ground he was surprised that 'Naruto' burst into water making his eye widen momentarily, he heard something snap and dozens of shuriken were launched at him from behind and his blindspots. Once the shuriken impacted Kakashi he burst into smoke leaving behind a tree log signifying a replacement, Naruto up in his vantage point smirked seeing that his plan worked perfectly.

Jumping down to the grass where Kakashi was just standing he bent down and picked up a lone bell with a satisfied smirk- everything was a distraction so that he could throw a kunai to cut the string holding one of the bells. Beating Kakashi in a straight up fight was impossible at his level so he needed to out smart him and it worked out perfectly, but he guessed Kakashi didn't notice or he allowed it to happen letting Naruto pass, either way it worked for Naruto.

From atop one of the training stumps Naruto heard the buzzer from the timer that Kakashi set at the beginning of the test signaling that the exam was over. Naruto walked over and stood next to it and waited for his team to come back. The two of them were all disheveled and Misao was limping slightly, Naruto didn't expect either of them to actually get a bell and it seemed that his expectations were met.

Their downtrodden expression told Naruto that he was right and that they failed to get the last bell. Once the entire team was by the tree stumps Kakashi let out a disappointed sigh. He expected much more from this team considering the resident blond that was apart of the team, he expected much more from his sensei's son...oh well he didn't want a team anyway.

"How do I put this…You Fail!" Said Kakashi shocking Naruto since he did what was required.

Seeing that Naruto had a question and slight anger in his eyes he turned to the blond. "You managed to get a bell sure, but the point of this test was teamwork. You three didn't work together nor did you try, so in turn you fail. Report to the Administrative Building tomorrow morning for your assignments." Instructed Kakashi before leaving in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto threw his bell across the clearing and left the area to go to his normal training ground to let out his frustration. A test that was stacked against him from the beginning, what a shitty test.

xXx

The Sandaime Hokage stamped his approval on a form a and moved on to the next stack with a slightly irritated sigh. Apparently a Genin team thought that training fire jutsu in the forest was smart, now he would have to have one of his secret ANBU repair a significant amount of their forest. He was interrupted from his monotony of his job to see that one of his top Jōnin walked in to report on his Genin team's test. Hopefully it didn't turn out like he expected it would.

Kakashi stood in front of the desk slouching slightly. "They failed, I told them to be at the Administrative Building tomorrow morning." Kakashi was about to leave when he was stopped by the Hokage's raised hand.

"Please explain how they failed, I had high hopes for Naruto." The irritation in the Hokage's voice was almost missed by Kakashi.

Kakashi thought of a way to word it without sounding dismissive and bringing the wrath of his leader down on him. "He managed to get a bell but didn't work with his teammates- the test was about teamwork and he failed, same as the others. It doesn't matter to me who he is or how much talent he has, he failed my test." Kakashi said with iron in his voice making the Hokage sigh.

Kakashi still hasn't moved on and was too hard on his potential subordinates. As much as it pained him The Sandaime couldn't do anything about it less he show favoritism for Naruto and that wouldn't be appropriate. But he could make sure that Naruto goes in the right direction without the blond knowing it.

"Very well, dismissed." Sighed the elderly Sarutobi.

xXx

Despite failing his ex-sensei's test Naruto approached the Administrative Building with the same determination that he did with the academy. Sixty-six percent of passed Genin failed their Jōnin's test and the rest were sent here, depending on grades their future could vary. Most of the shinobi force was made up of Genin and Chūnin that were free operatives that weren't apart of teams. If Naruto was lucky he wouldn't fall into the black hole that was the reserve force, maybe he could impress and Chūnin or a Jōnin to add him to their team.

For Shinobi like Naruto there were two options- go back to academy for another year, since he did finish early, or be put on the reserve force list. The reserve force list was for Genin who failed their Jōnin's test or those who teams either died or were disbanded. He would be put under the authority of a Chūnin squad leader or possibly a Jōnin for a mission or two before he was reassigned. It was obvious to Naruto which was the better option, he refused to spend another year in a classroom when it was unnecessary.

Experience was very important for shinobi and even though he'll most likely only be given C-Rank missions, a little experience is infinitely better than none after all.

Naruto walked into the building and weaved through the people in the halls, office workers and secretaries were hustling through the halls to pick up or drop off packets of paper or mission scrolls. The Administrative building was home to the Mission Assignment Desk, Logistics, the Hokage's Office and the lower and ground levels were the Shinobi Academy.

Naruto got to the secretaries desk and asked where he needed to go, he was informed that he was put on the active list and to report to the Mission Assignment desk for his first assignment. The blond wondered who would do that for him, even though that was what he planned to do, someone made the choice for him and that was strange. Naruto disregarded the strangeness of his future being decided for him and went to the Mission Assignment desk undeterred, nothing changed after all.

When he entered the room he was greeted by several Chūnin sitting behind the large desk, he walked up to the first one and waited for him to finish writing on his paper before speaking up.

"Naruto Uzumaki reporting for duty." He said trying to sound professional despite being so young.

The Chūnin regarded the blond for a moment with a raised eyebrow before looking down at his clipboard. "You are to report to the front gate at noon to meet your team. You were assigned a delivery mission to _Kawa no Kuni_." Ordered the Chūnin before going back to his paper work, Naruto nodded and checked the clock and seeing that he had an hour he went to get some food before his mission.

xXx

Naruto waited for his team to arrive with as much hope as he could muser that they would be accepting of him, he was younger than normal graduates and failed his Jōnin's test. Overall it was a mixture that would cause uncertainty in the minds of others about his capability as a shinobi and Naruto would do anything and everything he can to prove that he won't be dead weight.

In a burst of speed that Naruto couldn't track he was joined by three other shinobi all wearing the traditional Chūnin garb with slight variations. The larger of the bunch was wearing a long sleeve blue shirt and looked to have over a hundred pounds on the second largest of the bunch. The second largest was of average build, he had no shirt under his vest and a bandana holding his dark brown hair out of his face. The last and smaller of the bunch was wearing a short-sleeve blue shirt and vest that looked to be ironed perfectly which told Naruto that he was a by the books type.

Surprisingly the smallest one spoke up. "Welcome Uzumaki-san, I am Isao-taicho. This is-" Isao gestured to the larger one, "-Hiroki he's our resident Taijutsu and explosion specialist. The other is Masashi, he's a Genjutsu user with a background in tracking." Introduced Isao.

Seeing that they wanted him to introduce himself to the team he gathered his confidence at being the center of attention. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I'm an adept Taijutsu/Ninjutsu user and I'm interested in furthering my Genjutsu skills."

Naruto waited for them to say something, each of them had blank faces and didn't seem to react poorly to the description but they didn't exactly look impressed. Granted they were Chūnin and he was a Genin but he liked to think that he was quite skilled for his age and that they would accept him.

Hiroki looked over Naruto before a slight chuckle left his throat. "You were failed by Kakashi? I heard that you even managed to get one of his bells…you'll be fine." The large man said with a kind smile and an unnervingly deep voice giving Naruto some confidence.

"Yeah…I heard from Izumo that he fails every team he gets, so don't take it too bad…messed up past that one." A calm voice added and Naruto nodded to Masashi who gave him a nod in return. Naruto was slowly being filled with confidence, they weren't reacting poorly to the thought of him being on the team.

Isao step forward with his hands behind his back, "This mission is a delivery to _Kawa no Kuni,_ Hokage-sama gave us this scroll to deliver and once we have confirmation that the Daimyo has received the scroll we are to return."

Naruto watched as Isao went over the specifics of the mission down to the letter, it was commendable that such a routine mission was done with the upmost precision. He thought over his introduction with a sigh, his way of learning Ninjutsu was different than most, he would rather know the ins and outs of a jutsu to the point that he could do it with barely any thought. This method took longer than most since most people would rather move on to the next jutsu after they can adequately use it, but Naruto would rather completely master and make a jutsu his own before moving on, but that made it so had a much smaller jutsu arsenal that most.

Most shinobi train until they learn what they have an affinity in and specialize in that field or fields in some cases. Naruto wanted to master or be above-average in all fields much like the legends of the Shinobi world who were experts in all fields of combat. Most would say that a user of all is a master of none but Naruto would kindly point them in the direction of Tobirama Senju and Hiruzen Sarutobi. Shinobi that were masters in all forms of combat, the former being the man that created most of the jutsu used today by the village. Naruto idolizes both of them as role models the Nidaime more so as he was the pinnacle of what a shinobi should be.

"We'll be moving out now, Naruto keep to the rear." Ordered Isao before jumping off into the forest with the team following behind keeping the positions they were instructed by Isao.

xXx

The monotony of delivery missions was well known throughout the Shinobi forces and Naruto was learning exactly why rookies were given these missions. Naruto got to have a good look at the country side of _Hi no Kuni_ but was uninterested after the first hour, it was one endless forest that had the occasional river or lake peppered throughout. Maybe to a foreigner this would be an incredible experience as the trees in _Hi no Kuni_ were extremely large, far bigger than normal trees. But to a person native to the land this was just an everyday sight to them.

This gave Naruto ample time to think about his next course of action for his Shinobi career, without a Jōnin-sensei it was highly unlikely that he will be admitted into the Chūnin exams to be promoted, so that would mean that a field-promotion was his one and only option. While Genin have been promoted through the Chūnin exams, it was highly unlikely that participants of the exams would be promoted as the true reason for the exams was to show off up in comers to nobles and clients.

Naruto's dream was to rise through the ranks to achieve Elite status to find out who he was. The rank of Jōnin was given to high-level Chūnin who have a number of B-Rank missions as a team leader under their belt and the skills that were above Chūnin level in two or more fields. Other ways were to enter the ANBU black ops and become a senior officer or even a captan and on retirement from the forces would be given the rank of Jōnin immediately no matter the rank the person entered the black ops. Possibly even Elite Jōnin in the case of Kakashi Hatake who was one of the best operatives in the black ops.

With this Naruto decided that going into the ANBU black ops and attaining the rank of captan, with that level of clearance Naruto would be able to learn everything he ever wanted. But the path was arduous, he would have to first become a Chūnin and stand out enough to get looked at for recruitment into the black ops. He would need to increase his training and with his Genin level clearance he can enter the Shinobi Library and begin expanding his arsenal. This would most likely take years since he didn't have the political backing that Itachi Uchiha did to be allowed to enter at the tender age of ten, a lot of good it did as he went crazy and decided to test his strength against his own family, for keeps.

Naruto barely noticed that the scenery changed as they left _Hi no Kuni_ and entered _Kawa no Kuni,_ the landscape had less trees and more planes and rivers. Naruto felt the temperature shift becoming a much breezier and cooler sixty degrees rather than the normal eighty degrees that _Hi no Kuni_ consistently stayed at. It was a nice change to the blond, as much as he loved his home, traveling like this was one of his favorite things about the Shinobi life-style, granted traveling to different countries was usually for unpleasant things but times like these were nice.

 _Kawa no Kuni_ was normally peaceful, it wasn't home to any Shinobi villages and relied on the army of their Daimyo and assistance from Konoha or Suna to keep the peace and defend their borders. This meant that Shinobi could come and go as they pleased since civilians, even samurai couldn't keep up with Shinobi or even notice and track them. In response to that _Kawa no Kuni_ would trade goods with other countries for security insurance incase a less than favorable country decided to invade for the land.

Naruto supposed that Konoha was looking to be the next ally of _Kawa no Kuni,_ they were known for their herbs and teas so the elderly higher ups in the village obviously saw that as a highly beneficial import.

Team Isao was stopped by the castle guards and were told to wait for the Daimyo's approval for entrance into the castle for his audience. Naruto noticed that there were several archers with their bows aimed at them, Naruto could probably avoid every arrow and retaliate with kunai and shuriken before they could knock their next arrow. That was the difference between civilian and shinobi even a Genin such as him could out maneuver several adult civilians with minimal trouble.

The castle was roughly twice as large as the Shinobi Administrative building with several towers surrounding the main building, it was a dark brown with silver accents throughout the towers. Naruto mused that it must have cost roughly twice Konoha's annual mission income to build. It was really hard to understand just how wealthy the Daimyo were even for the smaller countries, it made Naruto wonder sometimes how much money the Daimyo of _Hi no Kuni_ has being one of the wealthiest countries on the continent.

"You have been permitted to enter." Said the Guard while opening the front gate letting them enter.

Isao being the captan lead the others into the courtyard, it was filled with flowers and stone pathways. Servants were walking through either bringing or taking things from one place to another in silence. Naruto's eyes widened when he saw that one of the servants was carrying a literal block of gold into one of the towers. That just wasn't fare.

They entered the main building and were lead to the top floor. Naruto couldn't keep count of the amount of priceless art pieces that were hanging on the wall leading to the top floor. Naruto managed to make a mental note of the buildings layout incase he ever needed to come back at a different time - _Shinobi are never allied with anyone, only have their goals temporarily aligned._ The voice of his Academy instructor echoed in his head, even if they are here for an alliance, two months later they could come back to kill someone, it was the nature of the Shinobi profession.

They entered the main chamber slowly and steadily to not cause any distress with the civilians. The Daimyo was sitting on a large pillowy like cushion while drinking tea, there were servants and advisors all sitting beside him whispering things to each other. He acknowledged the Konoha shinobi with a nod and set down his tea.

"Welcome, I trust that you have brought the message." His voice was like silk but his facial expression was blank, Naruto couldn't tell which of the two was more distressing.

Isao stepped forward and averted his eyes but didn't bow, shinobi never bow for foreign dignitaries no matter the level of their power. The Daimyo didn't acknowledge the lack of respect and took the scroll to read over it. His face didn't change from the blank expression but his eyes shimmered halfway through the scroll before handing it to the closest advisor who went through the scroll himself.

"Tell your Hokage that I will have his response delivered in due time, I and my advisors must go over it." His voice was still the silky tone that he started with but his eyes held a glint that made Naruto's brow twitch. Something was up with the Daimyo or Naruto was just terrible at reading people.

The Konoha shinobi turned to leave with their mission completed. Naruto once again acknowledged the monotony of delivery missions as they barely spent twenty minutes in the Daimyo's palace before they were dismissed. If it weren't for the cross country traveling, a lone Genin could accomplish such a task.

xXx

Naruto sighed as he drank down another bowl of ramen broth from his favorite restaurant - Ichiraku Ramen. It was a recurring outing in his life, Naruto didn't know what first brought him to the restaurant but one day when he smelt the aroma of the Ramen Naruto felt as if his body was telling him to try the food. Never in his life has he been happier than the day he made that decision, the restaurant was the place he would spend every celebration for every milestone in his young life. This made the blond resent the Sarutobi prankster for vandalizing the restaurant causing it to stay closed for two days while under maintenance.

"Mind if I take a seat?"

Naruto turned to the voice and saw that it was Isao-taicho and nodded to the short man. Naruto mentally prayed that he hit his growth spurt soon so that he doesn't end up a five-foot four twenty year old like Isao.

"I was impressed that you managed to keep up during the mission. Newly graduated Genin usually don't have the endurance to travel long-distance for such a long time." Isao voice didn't change from the leveled tone he first used to introduce himself but Naruto pretended that he was praising him.

"Thank you Taicho." Nodded Naruto. High praise from a highly experienced Chūnin.

Isao shook his head, "It was merely a truthful acknowledgement, I never give unnecessary complements. I came here with an offer, team Isao has an opening and I would like to extend the offer for you to join."

Naruto tried to keep his shock off his face but nodded quickly before swallowing his ramen. "Yes Isao-taicho, I would be honored to join your team."

Isao smiled at the young blond, he reminded him of himself. "Very good, we have team training every morning at seven at training ground 17." Instructed Isao before putting money on the bar for Naruto's lunch and left. Naruto watched his new Taicho leave with satisfaction, he managed to gain a slot on a Chūnin squad, this was the first step towards his goal.

xXx

Naruto watched the sunset from on top of the Hokage monument, the blond was eating an ice-cream while sitting on the Sandaime's stone head. Whenever Naruto had the opportunity he would watch the sunset from here, it was peaceful and illuminated the village in such a way that Naruto could literally see the _Will of Fire_ that he was taught about from the first day at the academy.

"It truly is a beautiful sight is it not?"

Naruto jolted slightly and turned to come face to face with one of the greatest living-legends in the Shinobi world. The Sandaime Hokage of _Konohagakure no Sato_ was next to him while watching the sunset same as him. It was truly an honor to the young blond that the Hokage was actually talking to him, speaking of he should probably respond.

"Yes Hokage-sama, I like to come here every so often. At this time of day the village looks like it's illuminated by the -"

"- _Will of Fire,_ yes I feel the same way." Interrupted the Sandaime with a grandfatherly smile, Naruto blushed at the attention unused to such things.

The Sandaime turned and started walking away from the Stone Faces, "I look forward to following your progress Uzumaki-kun." The Sandaime said from over his shoulder. ' _Your son is shaping up to be a wonderful shinobi, Minato-kun.'_

Naruto turned back to village and looked to the horizon while wondering what his future on team Isao would hold for him.

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes_**

So there was the first chapter, kinda slow but it's a setup for things to come. Please leave a **_Review_** because those make me happy and feedback makes the story better.

 **Original Jutsu:**

 _Yaezaki no Jutsu_ (Double Blossom Technique) D-Rank: An original jutsu created by Naruto Uzumaki. The user sends out a stream of chakra to the intended target to influence the targets sight to see double. While still in it's infancy as a jutsu, Naruto Uzumaki has utilized it along side clones to throw off even the most experienced of opponents.


	2. One step forward, Two steps back

Naruto flew back from the hurricane like winds of the _F_ _ū_ _ton: Daitoppa_ supplied by Masashi who was jumping on the balls of his feet waiting for Naruto to get back up. The blond dusted off his pants and weaved through three seals, taking a deep breath and blew out a thick stream of fire courtesy of the _Katon: Endan._ Naruto's stream of fire was more refined than normal and was nearly twice as hot, Masashi jumped away from his position and wiped his brow at the heat from his blond friends jutsu.

The last Uzumaki stuffed his hands into his his kunai holster and shinobi pouch taking out several kunai and ninja wire. Using a finely compressed amount of chakra Naruto attached the wire to the kunai before leaping into the air with a chakra enhanced jump enabling him to reach heights of two meters.

While mid-air Naruto tossed both kunai towards Masashi two used a minor application of _F_ _ū_ _ton_ chakra to redirect the steel projectiles and proceeded to weave seals for the final blow. Mid-air Naruto let a small smirk grace his face and pulled the wire causing them to fly at Masashi from behind hitting him in the back of the legs, Naruto landed and pulled out another Kunai and motioned to finish Masashi.

"Enough!"

Isao walked onto the training area with a satisfied smile, Hiroki following silently behind. Naruto has improved greatly in the past nine months on this team.

"Masashi, try not to disregard anything Uzumaki does, he is extremely crafty as you have no doubt learned in these past months. Naruto, that was very good although you need to work on your reaction time since that _F_ _ū_ _ton_ jutsu shouldn't have hit you with the speed I've seen you use."

Naruto nodded, he barely had enough time to react to the jutsu before he was thrown across the training ground. His progress over the past months has been exponentially faster than his solo training and academy instruction.

Despite learning the _Katon: Endan_ he learned that he possessed a affinity for _Suiton_ much like the Uzumaki clan or so his research tells him. Learning a _Katon_ jutsu was just out of convenience since Konoha was home to the largest _Katon_ library in the world. Granted the _Suiton_ library was extensive thanks to the Nidaime but the jutsu were still to difficult for him to learn until he finished _Suiton_ manipulation, which was taking a while considering his chakra reserves.

Naruto's reserves have grown thanks to the lessons given to him by Hiroki, the giant of a man had him constantly using jutsu after jutsu and chakra control exercises to use up his reserves so his reserves grow back larger every time. The Uzumaki clan was known for longevity and strong life forces but Naruto was still a ten year old so he could only ask for so much.

Masashi gave Naruto a respectful nod at the outcome of their spar to which Naruto retuned with a small smile. The two have grown to be friends, be it their calm demeanors or their interest in Genjutsu. Speaking of which with Masashi as a training partner Naruto's Genjutsu arsenal grew to contain several more jutsu and his self-created jutsu became more potent.

"We have a mission later, since Uzumaki has grown to an acceptable combat level we were given a B-Rank mission. We are to investigate a bandit camp that is responsible for the kid-napping of the Daimyo's favorite nephew." Briefed Isao to his team all of which were listening with rapt attention especially Naruto who has grown to like the planning phase of the missions, it was like a game that, if you were good enough, you could win before it even started.

"Logistics said that the camp is home to roughly two dozen bandits, it was given a B-Rank status for the retrieving and escort of the Daimyo's nephew. The mission specifically says to kill every single bandit. The Daimyo's obviously unhappy with the situation."

Naruto grimaced at that and rightly so, granted the Hokage has absolute control over all the shinobi in Konoha. But the Daimyo is the leading financial contributor to the village so if he wants a mission done it is done as quickly and affectively as possible. Naruto would never want to be on the bad side of the Daimyo, any of them.

"Get your supplies and meet at the front gate in twenty minutes."

xXx

Bandit camps were never that impressive, a few tents and a patrol or two. This bandit camp was different than the others Naruto noted, the camp had a wall surrounding it and a gate, how they managed that Naruto would never know but it told Team Isao that this wasn't the run of the mill bandit camp.

Naruto from atop the second largest tree in the forest next to the camp managed to count twenty-two bandits up and about inside of the camp. None of them were anything special - sword users, axe users, archers and no sign of the leader. Hopefully Masashi or Hiroki found something from their vantage point.

Naruto returned to their camp to see Isao-taicho looking over a map of the area while eating a rice ball, the team leader acknowledged Naruto's presence and looked at him curiously.

"I counted twenty-two bandits that were walking around, I didn't get a look at the leader but I think he is in the central most tent that is larger than the rest." Reported Naruto.

Isao nodded and looked down in thought, these bandits were far more organized and smart than most. Organized in that they managed to build a compound without any one noticing and smart enough to organize an assault on a noble and their samurai guard, that wasn't easy for a shinobi much less a civilian with a sword.

Masashi and Hiroki landed in the clearing with grim looks, Naruto listened as they reported roughly the same thing he did - twenty-two bandits and no leader in sight. They would have to go in slightly blind and quiet then take them out as they move through the compound, it was risky in that if they are caught the captive was as good as dead.

Isao rubbed his chin in thought, "Uzumaki, you were working on a new Genjutsu correct? How many can you safely keep under it?"

"One at the most and it would help if they were the same size as me." Said Naruto averting his eyes from Isao who had a tick mark on his forehead at the sore subject but didn't voice his annoyance and gave a stiff nod before turning to Hiroki and Masashi.

"I will go with Uzumaki, you two will enter from the east and west walls and work your way to the middle. After each kill burry them with a small application of _Doton_ chakra so they don't leave a trace." Ordered Isao, it was common protocol in stealth missions that if you kill someone, a small application of _Doton_ chakra was used to put them underground in an instant so that you didn't leave behind a train of bodies leading the enemy to you.

Masashi and Hiroki flickered out of the clearing and Naruto focused his chakra around himself and Isao-taicho. The air around them distorted causing them to become invisible, the _Torapen no Jutsu_ was created by the Elite Jōnin Kurenai Yuhi and Naruto felt that the women earned her rank with this incredible Genjutsu alone.

With the Genjutsu around them Naruto and Isao silently moved though the forest towards the bandit compound. The front gate was still slightly opened and Isao gave a slight nod to Naruto before they entered the compound.

They took out a kunai and quietly moved through the area, as expected two patrol bandits walked right in from of them laughing about something.

Naruto and Isao came up behind them and shoved their Kunai into the back of their necks killing them instantly. The last Uzumaki grimaced at the kill, it wasn't the first time but killing isn't something he was used to but he manages to disregard it while on a mission.

This repeated several times as Naruto and Isao made their way to the center tent, Isao held up his hand and made hand-signs to let Naruto in on the plan. _Separate - Simultaneous attack - all sides._ Naruto wondered how he was supposed to do that until he noticed that Hiroki and Masashi were hiding behind the tents that were next to him.

Naruto and the others nodded in affirmative and waited for Isao-taicho to signal for the attack. The short team leader raised his hand and signaled for the attack to start. Time slowed for Naruto as he charged into the tent with a kunai at the ready with blood still dripping off the tip from his earlier kills.

As soon as he entered the tent he saw a medium build man with a sword on his back in a red Konoha flack-jacket and black pants. He had a scar on his face from his fore head to his left nostril and his arms and legs were bound by bandages.

"Traitor!" Roared Isao-taicho and he launched himself at the Bandit leader and ex-Konoha Shinobi apparently.

Naruto knew that Isao-taicho and Hiroki had it covered and recovered the Daimyo's nephew and moved to the campsite to keep him safe.

When he got back to the camp site he untied the Daimyo's nephew and unbounded his mouth allowing him talk. "Thank you so much shinobi-san that man was talking with- well someone bad!"

Naruto nodded and herd a crash to his right and saw that Hiroki was thrown into the clearing through a tree. Naruto jumped to his feet and waited for the Konoha Nuke-nin to get to the clearing.

The Nuke-nin walked into the clearing and threw Isao-taicho to the ground with a stab in his stomach. He looked at Naruto with a blank expression, "Give me the noble-brat and I won't kill you."

Naruto didn't respond only rushing into action hoping that fighting with Hiroki and Isao-taicho was enough to tire him out. The man slashed his blade horizontally making Naruto slide under it and used as much speed as he could to stab his kunai unto the man's stomach. The kunai was parried and the blond was kicked away.

Naruto righted himself mid-air and weaved through seals, taking a deep breath and exhaled a stream of fire towards the Nuke-nin who stabbed his sword into the ground and slammed his palm onto the earth creating a stone wall to protect himself. Naruto tsk'd at the defensive jutsu and tried to think of what he could do.

The Nuke-nin didn't give him the time to think and rushed him with his sword with speed that Naruto could only just follow, with the hundreds of hours dedicated to this jutsu Naruto managed to replace himself with a tree branch to avoid being cut in half. From atop the tree Naruto pulled out two Kunai and threw them at the Nuke-nin while holding a one handed Ram-seal, he activated his _Yaezaki no Jutsu_ immediately after he activated the _Torapen no Jutsu_.

The two Kunai that were flying at the Nuke-nin became dozens before the Nuke-nin's eyes, thinking it was the _Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ he started to cut through the kunai with his sword. He froze when he felt something pierce him between his ribs and his world went black, the Genjutsu around Naruto ended and the blond let out a breath, the exchange barely lasted two minutes, jolting slightly in alarm he ran towards Isao-taicho.

Naruto applied pressure to the wound with a grim look on his face, if he doesn't get to a doctor in the next hour he was as good as dead. Next to him he heard Masashi land in the clearing he was walking with a slight limp and a hand over his right shoulder. Hiroki grunted and woke from his small bout of unconsciousness and walked over to Naruto and Isao-taicho.

"Masashi, you and Isao-taicho need to get to Konoha. He has an hour tops before he bleeds out. Hiroki and I will finish the mission." Said Naruto and surprisingly both didn't question his judgement and nodded, the injured Masashi picked up his small team leader as quickly as he could made his way hime, if he pushed through the pain he could make it in time.

Naruto went back to the Daimyo's nephew who was looking at Naruto with awe. The blond didn't acknowledge that and put out the fire before turning to the boy. "What can I call you?"

"Shigeru. My name is Shigeru."

Naruto nodded, "Shigeru-sama, Hiroki and I will be escorting you to the Daimyo's palace from here on out."

Shigeru didn't say anything only nodding, the small blond that managed to keep him safe filled him with enough confidence that they would be fine for the journey to his uncle's palace. Shigeru was suddenly lifted off the ground and put onto the back of Hiroki much to his displeasure.

"Sorry Shigeru-sama, but it is faster this way." Came the deep voice of Hiroki, the Shinobi shared a glance and sped into the forest hoping to get to the Daimyo's palace within the night.

xXx

The Daimyo of _Kawa no Kuni_ had a very large palace but it looked like Naruto's apartment compared to theDaimyo of _Hi no Kuni's_ palace. Naruto felt as though the Fire Daimyo could do anything he wanted in the world with this much money at his finger tips.

There were so many servants in this palace that it could be referred to as a town of it's own, and considering other nobles that lived here it wasn't a stretch that the Daimyo's palace could be referred to as a village of it's own.

Naruto, Hiroki and the now walking Shigeru made their way through the courtyards towards the central most building. Shigeru started to take the lead once they entered the palace, Naruto once again made a mental map of the building as best as he could - _No information is useless, never disregard anything for one day it could help you._ \- Once again Naruto could hear his former-sensei's voice in his head as he made his way towards the top floor.

Shigeru stopped at a door causing Naruto and Hiroki to stop, both had a curious look on their face since they expected the Daimyo's chamber to be at the top.

Seeing their curiosity Shigeru smiled, "Uncle thought that if everyone thinks that he's at the top he should be in the middle so that if the top is attacked he'll be fine. Uncle is…like that, always thinking several steps ahead no matter how unnecessary."

Naruto nodded at the reasoning, to a civilian like Shigeru it seemed pointless but to Naruto, a shinobi, this seemed like an appropriate precaution.

The doors opened and inside were several samurai along the walls and the Daimyo who was whispering into some other noble's ear. He turned to them and his eyes brightened before he jumped to his feet and pulled Shigeru into a hug.

"Oh, I was so worried Shigeru-kun, so worried!" The Daimyo said as he hugged Shigeru who was steadily becoming redder at the embarrassing situation.

"Yes uncle I'm okay, I want to introduce you to my saviors." Said Shigeru getting the Daimyo to let him go and observe Naruto and Hiroki with the same calculative look that Naruto saw in Kakashi when he first met him. Telling Naruto that there was more to the Daimyo than met the eye.

Shigeru gestured to the big one, "This is Hiroki, he carried me all the way here so that we could get here so fast. And this one is Naruto-kun, he was the one who killed that traitorous Konoha Shinobi that kidnapped me."

The Daimyo once again looked Naruto over and had a unnoticeable look of respect in his eyes that Naruto was unable to notice, saving his favorite nephew was a sure fire way to get on the Daimyo's good side.

"Then I thank you, Konoha Shinobi. I ask that you wait while I and Shigeru make a report for Hiruzen-dono."

Naruto and Hiroki stood off to the side as the two noble's whispered to each other and wrote on a scroll for a few minutes. Naruto wasn't sure what they had to tell Hokage-sama but he was sure some of it had to do with that Nuke-nin and what he was doing, Shigeru was concerned with who he was talking with. Whoever it was it was obviously above Naruto's pay grade and that annoyed and relieved him.

"Here you are Naruto-san and I thank you again for rescuing my nephew."

Naruto bowed, seeing as it was his countries Daimyo it would have been horribly disrespectful if he hadn't. "It was all of my team that managed it, two of which are quite injured. If that is all Daimyo-sama."

The Daimyo waved them off, Naruto and Hiroki left with as much speed as they politely could while still inside the palace. Once outside Naruto and Hiroki utilized the _Shunshin no Jutsu_ to make their way home, at the speed they normally travel in about four hours they should be at the gates.

xXx

Naruto hasn't been a Shinobi long enough to know for sure but he could guess when he was in something out of his dept. His first warning flag was when instead of the mission assignment desk, he was called directly to the Hokage's office for debriefing.

The blond made his way to the Hokage's office going over everything he could about his mission in his head so he could answer any and all questions the Hokage will have for him. Arriving to the door he took a breath and walked in after the two ANBU guards opened the door for him.

The inside of the Hokage's office wasn't what most would expect, a large desk overflowing with stacks of paperwork and scrolls. The surrounding areas of on the floor were tomes that stacked almost as high as the desk and book shelfs filled with even more. On the wall were photo's of the Hokage, from the Shodaime to the late Yondaime, Naruto noticed that the Sandaime had been quite young when he had his picture taken, most likely in his early twenties. It spoke of his prestigious skill to be given the Kage position at the same age most would be happy to make Jōnin.

"Ah Naruto-kun, come have a seat we have much to talk about." The Hokage said with the same grandfatherly smile that Naruto is starting to associate with the aged Hokage.

Naruto nodded and took a seat and waited for the highest authority in the village to address him or ask a question, he was incredibly intimidated and slightly scared. Naruto was once again on the receiving end of a piercing gaze that he felt was breaking every single cell in his body down, learning his secrets and telling his future, it was unnerving at how his superiors were capable of such a thing.

"Your mission was quite the interesting one if I do say so myself." Started the Hokage while filling his pipe with tobacco and lighting it with a minuscule application of _Katon_ chakra.

"The Nuke-nin you encountered was named Ryota a former Tokubetsu-Jōnin of our village that left the village several months ago. He was apart of the barrier defense unit which means that he has knowledge of the village's defense system."

Naruto's eye widened at that, he could sell such things to their enemies, who knows what Iwa would do with such knowledge. Naruto remembered what Shigeru said when he first saw talked to Naruto, Ryota was talking with someone…

"I can tell that you know what this means and from the report that Takahiro-dono and Shigeru-kun wrote me I know exactly who he was talking two. Let me tell you, I'm not sure if this is would have been easier if it was Iwa."

Naruto nodded trying to follow along but since he didn't know everything it was like a puzzle with only the edges, he just couldn't make sense of it. One thing was for sure, trouble was on the door step and it seems that he was lucky enough to be the one to have a hand in discovering it. Yet again, Naruto was caught in a mix of excited at the opportunity that is possibly presenting itself and terrified of the opportunity that is presenting itself since it will no doubt be incredibly dangerous. But Naruto was also confused as to why the Hokage was telling him these things, he was a Genin with less than a year of experience that only just escaped duty on the active list.

"The man that Ryota was talking to was my former student Orochimaru, an opponent that is as dangerous as he is intelligent and let me tell you he was a Genius even among prodigies." Grimaced the Sandaime taking a longer than usual toke on his pipe.

"Now I know that you are wondering why I'm telling you this? There are two reasons, first is that your team was the ones responsible for bringing this to our attention and deserve a bit of information, second is that with your service not only on this mission but your track record and the recommendation of Isao I am giving you a field-promotion to Chūnin. That and this." Said the Sandaime while passing him a envelope.

Inside was a large stack of money that had Naruto's eye nearly pop out of his head, the mission was a B-Rank and this pay was higher than A-Rank missions went for. There was also two notes inside, the first had a picture of Ryota that had his information on it and the rank of A next to an amount of money that matched the stack in the envelope. The other note was a letter of recognition from the ANBU Commander, it apparently said that he, or she, was interested with his work so far as a Genin now Chūnin and if he continues as is he will be given an express invitation to the ANBU black ops.

Naruto felt as if the world was giving him a pat on the back, he was acknowledged by the one person he was hoping he would, his dream was that much closer and he was promoted to chūnin! Disregarding the fact that one of the most dangerous men in the world was looking to attack, today was the best day of his young life by far.

"You managed to finish off an A-Rank Nuke-nin, your promotion was all but certain after that but the way you handled the mission, taking up momentary leadership, finishing the mission and securing your Taicho's survival. You did very well, better than I would have expect for one so young. If I could I would allow you to enter ANBU tonight, but that isn't how the system works."

Naruto's face could fit a bigger grin as he rubbed the back of his head bashfully, it was one thing to receive praise in a short note but from his hero himself in person…Naruto could die with a smile right now. But one question did rise in the back of his mind.

"Why? You didn't call Hiroki or Masashi who I know are well enough to attend the meeting. Why are you telling me, I'm nothing special, I barely have any experience and no prestigious background?" Asked Naruto, it had been bothering him since that afternoon when he first spoke to the Sandaime, why was the Hokage himself interested in his progress? By all accounts he was one of the hundreds of rookies that have come out of the academy, granted he did it a bit faster than normal but still…why?

Rather than being turned off or annoyed the Sandaime smile once again as if reaffirming something. "It is often those from the most unimpressive backgrounds that have the largest potential that if honed could make them invaluable. Orochimaru was an orphan child of two career Genin, Sakumo Hatake was the son of a merchant and Jiraiya has no known background and most of all would be Minato-kun, no shinobi background and orphan and grew to be the Yondaime Hokage. In the most unimpressive of backgrounds can the largest potential be found."

Naruto felt himself listening more intently than he ever has before, also his ego got a nice little boost if what he was hearing was being interpreted correctly. It was almost like the Sandaime was calling him the next up in comer!

"Now Chūnin Uzumaki, you are to report to training ground two at five for a special training session."

Naruto saluted the Sandaime and left the office to celebrate his promotion the only way he knew how - Ichiraku Ramen!

xXx

"Subtlety is either lost on you or discretion is…" Came the monotone voice of Danzo out of the shadow of the Hokage's office making Hiruzen chuckle.

"I meant every word and he could use a boost, he certainly earned the praise."

Danzo found himself agreeing with the monkey, the blond certainly handled himself much better than any other shinobi that has come out of that pathetic excuse of an academy. It was impart due to his dedication and hard-work as well as his scarcely known pedigree that all but assured his rise to greatness. If only he were allowed to be incorporated into his forces, the blade would be hardened and sharpened to perfection and possibly a new person to wear the hat would rise.

"You seem to have come to the same conclusion I have. The are very few that have come from these generations that have that potential and I intend to put him through the same trials as the others. He will either brake or become worthy, only time will tell. Tomorrow I will get a look for myself."

Danzo nodded and left the office with the same silence that he arrived but with a bit more satisfaction in the monkey's plans, normally he disagreed with him on everything but Danzo acknowledged the passage of time being a key factor in his and Hiruzen's battle effectiveness and ability to rule. There were others certainly but they have already been forged and that wasn't how the selection progress went, a Hokage wasn't selected like most thought but built over years.

The Sandaime had personal instruction from two Hokage's in his youth, the Yondaime was given access to the Nidaime's notes for one of his most deadly jutsu. It wasn't because Minato earned it but he was considered for the position ever since his first tests as a Genin. It seems as though the cycle has come full circle and yet another one is being put through the selection process and nearly endless tests.

If only the blond could be put into his forces, the amount of progress they would make…

xXx

Naruto didn't know what to expect from this training, the Hokage told him it would be special but that was all he was told. The time was also strange, why so early? Most shinobi didn't train this early nor did they want to.

He found his answer by the presence in front of him that made it self known. The Sandaime Hokage of _Konohagakure no Sato_ was going to be his instructor apparently…wow.

"I have trained dozens of shinobi over the years, only three were long-term as you no doubt know. When a Shinobi of substantial potential comes along I always feel obligated to pass on a few lessons or jutsu. But before that I would like to see what you are capable of, so please…try to kill me."

Naruto tried and failed to contain his shock, he was literally sworn to do the opposite. Part of him liked the idea of trying such a thing on such a powerful individual and the other part was thinking along the same lines that the Sandaime was thinking, he was re-filling his pipe without a care knowing that no matter what he tries, touching him will be an achievement.

Deciding to not wait for a start Naruto threw a handful of Shuriken at the Sandaime which were suddenly pushed off of their flight path confusing Naruto momentarily before he switched up his strategy. Naruto used a hand-seal to activate his _Yaezaki no Jutsu_ to make the Sandaime see countless clones of Naruto surround him before charging in with a kunai in hand.

The Sandaime was interested in the Genjutsu that he's never come across telling him that Naruto invented it himself before shattering the illusion before Naruto managed to cross half a meter of space towards him and by the slight twitch in Naruto's eye he knew that it did nothing.

So far everything Naruto has tried has been thwarted with out the Sandaime even slightly moving. Naruto threw his kunai towards the Sandaime and weaved seals, took a deep breath and exhaled a stream of fire towards his commander.

This time the Sandaime did move but it was to replace himself with a log and appear twenty feet to the right, all without the slightest twitch of movement caught by the blond. Naruto felt frustration rise in his chest as he created two _Mizu Bunshin_ and simultaneously attacked with clones at his side.

The elder Hokage watched on as the blond rookie Chūnin coordinated an attack with his two clones, one was peppering him with shuriken and the others were coming in for Taijutsu. The Sandaime moved his right hand faster than Naruto thought was even possible and a fine burst of chakra flew across the field disrupting his _Mizu Bunshin_ leaving Naruto in the middle of the clearing with no back up.

Trying to push down the hopelessness Naruto activated his _Yaezaki no Jutsu_ and created two more clones and charged into the fray with real Naruto's to give it sustenance. The Sandaime ripped through the Genjutsu and two shuriken tore through the air perforating the clones before Naruto could cross the distance to attack.

The Sandaime held up a hand for the match to stop. "That was an interesting try."

Naruto felt like snorting, literally everything he did was stopped barely a second after he did it. Granted he knew that he was hopelessly out matched but that was pathetic.

"Don't look so down, I have several of your life times in experience. That being said I know what we will work on today, tell me what is your affinity?"

xXx

Naruto slowly slid into the soothing hot waters of the hot spring with a sigh of relief, at first he was under the impression that he would spend an hour or two with the Sandaime for a lesson or a quick batch of tips but it turned into several hours of one on one instruction.

True to his word after the 'spar' the Sandaime had a lesson planned out in his head; the first few hours was working on his _Suiton_ manipulation and surprisingly Naruto was able to finish the second step and started working on two new jutsu. Then the Sandaime put him through several exercises that is making the blond think that he is now twice as fast as before and quite stronger, apparently weight training was still relevant in this day in age.

For the last few hours the Sandaime gave him the introduction to Demonic Illusions, Genjutsu techniques that weren't supplementary they were offensive and with the boost in effectiveness came the boost in difficulty, so he was given a new chakra control exercise.

Overall it was a day of foundation laying since Naruto didn't master or learn anything completely but now has the foundations and the scrolls for the Jutsu the Sandaime wants him to learn. Apparently once he finished learning these jutsu he was to report to the Hokage for a examination. Naruto new a test when he saw one but couldn't for the life of him understand what it was for and why he was receiving it, but he was damn sure that he would ace it like all the other tests he was presented with.

While resting between exercises the Sandaime told him about the requirements for entering the ANBU; one was to have high-level Taijutsu, low-Jōnin chakra reserves, be adept at all three Shinobi disciplines and have a solid background in Kenjutsu. The ANBU didn't have specific divisions so all the operatives had to be at a certain standard and with this revelation the last Uzumaki decided to work with Hiroki to increase his reserves even more and start delving into the art of Kenjutsu.

He may feel that he was getting closer to his goal but with all these new requirements, he's never felt further away.

* * *

 **Original Jutsu:**

 _Yaezaki no Jutsu_ (Double Blossom Technique) D-Rank: An original jutsu created by Naruto Uzumaki. The user sends out a stream of chakra to the intended target to influence the targets sight to see double. While still in it's infancy as a jutsu, Naruto Uzumaki has utilized it along side clones to throw off even the most experienced of opponents.

 _Torapen no Jutsu_ (Transparency Technique) B-Rank: Created by Kurenai Yuhi. This user surround themselves with chakra to distort the air around them to bend light allowing them to appear invisible. If the user wants to conceal others within the jutsu they must be of similar or smaller sizes.


	3. As one door closes, another opens

It was a new feeling for him, in the past few weeks while Isao-taicho was healing, Naruto has been going on missions with different Chūnin squads. The difference was that rumors about his first B-Rank must have spread because he was getting a few looks of recognition and nods of respect as he walked through the village, he has grown used to the anonymity of being a new rookie so it was strange to become a respected up in coming Chūnin so fast.

He was on his was back from a routine C-Rank border mission, nothing out of the ordinary other than his giant of a teammate and dare he say friend, Hiroki, was giving him a new Chakra control exercise. He was to travel at their normal speeds while levitating a kunai above his finger, at first it was easy but once they started moving through the trees it became incredibly hard. When Naruto asked Hiroki for tips the man responded with a smooth 'I just made it up, so you're on your own.' True to his nature, Naruto managed to get it down before he reached the gate and was working on spinning the kunai while moving.

Thanks to the chakra control training Naruto has managed to learn the Jutsu given to him by the Sandaime after only three weeks, may be slower than most but Naruto could say that he mastered them to his liking. The last Uzumaki was playing around with _Suiton_ manipulation in his last training session and was toying with the idea of using external water rather than chakra molded internally. The Nidaime did something along those lines but far more complicated, he created water from the particles in the atmosphere, something like that would require incredible chakra control and hours of practice.

Naruto noticed that they arrived to the gate of Konoha and breathed out a sigh of relief, this was his second mission in the past two days and he could use a break.

Hiroki, who was leading the mission turned to the squad, "I will submit the report, you all can go home."

Naruto nodded great-fully to his friend and left in a smokeless _Shunshin no Jutsu_ to his apartment. There was another bit of progress he has made, with his increased control Naruto can more accurately use the _Shunshin no Jutsu_ with increased speed and less of the tells of the jutsu going off. Apparently masters such as _Shunshin no Shisui_ were capable of creating several after-images with his incredible speed in the jutsu.

Naruto was definitely going to increase his jutsu speed to get somewhere close to that but for now his bed was sucking him into the dark embrace that he has been fantasizing about for the past few hours.

xXx

"They said that you're getting release today, Taicho." Said Naruto while sitting in Isao's hospital room, the small team leader's injury was severe but with Masashi arriving when he did the doctors were able to heal him up just right.

"Yes and I told you before, you don't have to keep visiting me." He said with annoyance but the small smile on his face betrayed his thoughts.

Naruto shook his head, "No I want to know exactly when you get out, I want to start training Kenjutsu and you are the only one I know that uses the art."

Isao nodded, the last Uzumaki was working on his ANBU application and he wouldn't hold him back by denying him some extra training. That and having a training partner for his Kenjutsu would be nice.

"Meet me at our training ground tomorrow, find a sword you wish to train with and we will begin."

Naruto nodded and went to leave without another word, he's been giving it some thought over the past few weeks about the type of sword he wanted to use. It could range from a small tantō to a nodachi, but he should take into account that he wasn't the largest of shinobi at the moment.

The blond made his way through the village looking for the weapons shop he usually shops at. Like any other shinobi village there were an abundance of weapon shops but Naruto was loyal to the Burning Leaf, they sold him his first set of kunai and he always felt nostalgic when shopping there.

Walking in, Naruto was hit with the same smell of steel polish that always brought a smile to his face, the blond went to the Kenjutsu section and look around for something that would fit his style. So far he has two choices in mind, a slightly larger than normal tantō or a modified chokuto, the tanto was made with high-class steel but the chokuto was saturated with chakra allowing it to work with chakra easily. Throwing the ryō to the wind Naruto sprung for the more expensive but higher quality tantō that would last for a long time rather than the chakra conductive metal that wasn't as durable.

xXx

The sweltering heat came down on them in a never ending wave, they have been running for the past day nonstop, it wasn't his fault that they were caught, he told them that he could hold that many under his Genjutsu.

Naruto kept his head on a swivel as they ran, Hiroki was sporting a gash in his left arm that was wrapped by Naruto quite badly though it did it's job. Isao was leading like normal but was suffering from partial paralyzation from a _Raiton_ jutsu meant for Masashi whom was unharmed like Naruto.

The now re-united Team Isao accepted a B-Rank mission as soon as they could, nothing extremely difficult, they were tasked with retrieving a report on the border of _Hi no Kuni_ that was dropped by an ANBU squad.

Once they retrieved the scroll they were surrounded by a team of shinobi from _Kumogakure no Sato_ that weren't happy that they found the scroll. In a last ditch effort to avoid combat Naruto was tasked with covering the team with the _Torapen no Jutsu_ but the Kumo Jōnin broke it almost immediately.

"They're gaining we need to do something quick!" Warned Masashi. The teams resident sensor only discovered his ability last month and was still learning his capabilities but it was saving their lives now.

Isao grunted, it was bad since Hiroki was injured and would be a liability in combat. Before Isao could order the team to do something they were hit by a blinding light.

Naruto severed the chakra to his feet and dropped to the forest floor and concealed his chakra until his vision came back. Naruto gripped his tantō and kept his breathing steady being as silent as possible since he could hear someone walking near him.

The last Uzumaki could hear conflict in the distance and knew that his team was fighting, maybe they avoided the flash jutsu that hit him.

Naruto's vision came back to him and he saw the Kumo shinobi looking around a few meters away and could see blurs of movement in the trees, gripping his tantō tightly Naruto prepared himself.

The blond weaved through hand seals and molded his chakra carefully increasing the pressure until the buildup was too painful, he released the _Suiton: Suidanha._ The beam of water that Naruto fired covered the distance between Naruto and the Kumo shinobi in less than a second and cut directly through his spine killing him easily. Naruto barely acknowledged the his kill and moved up the tree to help his team.

Hiroki was on the defensive from a kunoichi that was peppering him with a kunai that were covered in _Raiton_ chakra that cleanly cut through the trees they were hitting. The large Konoha chūnin was fully mobile but could fight as hard with only one hand so he was trying to lure her into a trap he set before the fight kicked off.

In the corner of his eye he caught the sight of a blond that was signaling to him from a few branches above and was giving him a signal for a team maneuver that wasn't perfected but would be perfect for the situation, not having anything else in mind he subtly agreed.

Hiroki charged forward towards the Kumo kunoichi who was momentarily surprised by the change in tactic but continued throwing kunai at him. Seeing that she wasn't going to hit she pulled out a katana and charged forward, Hiroki smirked and accepted the pull of chakra and replaced himself with Naruto in less than a second.

Naruto appeared in front of the Kumo kunoichi who couldn't correct for the change in opponent and was stabbed in the heart by the steel tantō. Naruto jumped up to Hiroki and got a wordless nod from the large man telling the blond that he was alright.

Naruto and Hiroki were nearly knocked off the tree when the earth shook from a high-level _Doton_ jutsu. The giant and the blond rushed to the source of the disturbance and saw the earth break apart with stone spikes, and three large dragon heads that must have been responsible for firing the stone spikes. A tree in the distance had a large whole through it almost as wide as the width of the tree itself, several trees behind it suffered the same fate it spoke to the power of the jutsu that a single spike was capable of such a thing.

Naruto looked around hoping that his taicho and teammate were still alive, Hiroki was doing the same but with much less confidence that they were around.

"Die!" Roared a Kumo shinobi from above them.

The blond replaced himself with a log at a higher level of the tree to get behind the Kumo shinobi who didn't pause and went straight for Hiroki who instead of replacing himself decided to charge head first into the Kumo shinobi.

The two men met each other, the injured Hiroki did his best to dodge and redirect blows with only one arm. The kumo shinobi ducked under a haymaker from Hiroki and grabbed the large man's wrist and pulled him off balance. Before Hiroki was pulled towards the ground the Kumo shinobi spun and kicked him in the chest causing him to fly through the forest and impact a tree.

Naruto from atop the trees watched the exchange that barely lasted a couple seconds with a clenched fist. This man most likely killed two of his teammates and was about to kill his last one.

That was unacceptable, this man was dead, effective immediately.

Before anything, Naruto tossed ten shuriken towards the Kumo shinobi and weaved through several seals for the _Yaezaki no Jutsu_ making the ten shuriken appear to be in the hundreds. As the shuriken flew towards the Kumo shinobi Naruto weaved three more hand-seals and molded the chakra in his throat until the build up was too much and used the _Suiton: Suidanha_ firing a concentrated beam of water towards the Kumo shinobi at such high speeds it caught up to the shuriken he previously threw.

Unfortunately the Kumo recognized the invasive feeling of a Genjutsu and broke it nearly instantly and jumped away to avoid the _Suiton_ jutsu. Naruto let out an angry sigh and readied his tantō, the Kumo shinobi was on him faster than anyone Naruto's ever fought save the Sandaime, who Naruto was thanking for the training since Naruto could follow the Kumo shinobi's movements.

Naruto moved his tantō to block the slash of a katana that the Kumo shinobi suddenly had in his hands that he slashed with the intent of decapitation. Naruto fed chakra into his limbs to augment his strength so that he wouldn't collapse under the pressure of the larger and clearly stronger man.

"You're good kid, much better than the others, that short one barely lasted that long and the other's genjutsu wasn't much better." Taunted the man with a cruel smirk as he pressed harder into Naruto's tantō.

Naruto felt range over take him and took a breath to channel it into his fighting ability - _Emotions shouldn't control you, you should control your emotions -_ Naruto's old academy sensei's voice echoed in his mind as he thought over his options.

Naruto molded his chakra without the use of seals while in the middle of a sword struggle and replaced himself with a log several meters away. Knowing that this man was much stronger than that shinobi he killed on his first B-Rank all those months ago, Naruto prepared himself for the strongest jutsu in his inventory.

Weaving six hand-seals with speed that was unknown even to himself Naruto molded his chakra unto his chest and packed it in on itself over and over until it was dense enough to his liking and released the _Suiton: Suish_ _ō_ _ha._ The near tidal wave of water that was created shattered the stone from the large _Doton_ jutsu from before an toppled over all of the injured trees. The Kumo shinobi managed to avoid the water but was hit by shrapnel from one of the stones that were crushed under the _Suiton_ jutsu.

Naruto didn't waste a single second and packed chakra into his legs and vanished in a flawless use of the _Shunshin no Jutsu_ and pierced his tantō into the Kumo shinobi's chest with the enhanced speed and force he still had from his previous jutsu. The life faded from the Kumo shinobi's eyes and Naruto fell to his back desperately trying to catch his breath and trying to hold in the emotions that wanted to escape him.

Naruto felt the exhaustion kick in and his vision started to fade before he blacked out.

xXx

Extreme chakra exhaustion and over flooded chakra coils, the result of pushing so much chakra though his system in such a short time. Three days of pain from the slightest movement was finally over and he could now sit up without much pain. He was told earlier that Hiroki's spine was broke and that it would be a miracle if he could continue his shinobi career, walking was possible after months if not years of physical therapy but to the level of a shinobi was highly unlikely.

Naruto's grief was at a high when he was told that both Isao-taicho and Masashi were both killed by the Kumo shinobi who he found out also yesterday was known as - Takashi an Elite Jōnin of _Kumogakure no Sato_. Naruto was now known as the Chūnin that has killed two A-Rank shinobi at the age of ten. To the blond it wasn't that big of a deal but the nurses and doctors said that his name was being spoken quite often throughout the village with respect, many Chūnin and Jōnin were interested in meeting the last Uzumaki after rumors of his latest mission was spread through the village.

Naruto didn't care at the moment about his now heightened reputation or village wide respect, he just wanted his team back, they were his friends. The last Uzumaki's grief was interrupted by two people that walked into his hospital room without hesitation.

The first was a now reoccurring presence in his life for some reason still unknown to the blond, the Sandaime Hokage. The other was an ANBU of high level if the steel mask with the fire decorations adorning it was any indication.

The elderly Hokage sat in one of the chairs next to the bed with a sigh, "I'm terribly sorry for your losses Naruto-kun, it's truly unfortunate that an A-Rank mission was given to a Chūnin team."

Naruto didn't speak but only nodded in acceptance and waited for the rest, he didn't really have anything to add.

"Hokage-sama." The scrambled voice of the ANBU broke the silence.

The Hokage nodded with a sigh, "Naruto, the out rage from Kumo after this latest mission has been quite substantial. The Raikage knows who you are and wants your head for killing one of his top shinobi."

Naruto's eyes widened and felt fear take his entire body at that, he may be seen with favor by the Hokage for some reason and have a bit of respect in the village but he wasn't the brother of a clan head. If Hizashi Hyuga would be sacrificed to stop a war because his brother Hiashi Hyuga, the Hyuga clan head, killed a Kumo ambassador for kidnapping his daughter, then what hope did a clan-less and relatively unknown shinobi like Naruto have?

"However." The Hokage started, breaking Naruto from his thoughts. "The Kumo shinobi were in _Hi no Kuni_ territory and killed two Konoha shinobi, so if they want to start a war for their actions then _let them._ " The thunderous voice of the Sandaime Hokage was felt throughout the room in those last words and Naruto felt he caught a glimpse of the _Shinobi no Kami_ that thousands have seen right before their deaths.

"I will not give a single shinobi under my protection for political nonsense ever again! Naruto Uzumaki, Chūnin of _Konohagakure no Sato,_ your application into the ANBU black ops has officially been accepted as of now. I would like to introduce to you the ANBU Commander, Heisen."

 _The fire caused by war,_ what an apt name for the commander of the ANBU black ops thought Naruto. The blond was relieved to the power of ten, the thought of being a sacrificial lamb to the war hungry Kumo nearly destroyed him but was reminded of the lessons that Konoha looks after their own once again by the Hokage.

Then the acceptance into the Black Ops organization rid him of his depressed mood completely as he thought of his achievement. In three months he would be turning eleven, which meant that he was accepted into the ANBU at age ten, meaning that he tied the Genius prodigy of the Uchiha as youngest ANBU recruit in the history of Konoha.

The ANBU Commander stepped forward. "Uzumaki Naruto, acceptance into the Black Ops doesn't mean it is permanent, a one month probationary period is mandatory for all recruits no matter the circumstances of their admission. Report to the ANBU headquarters at noon in two days time for testing." Ordered the Commander before leaving without a trace that he was even here in the first place.

Naruto turned to the Hokage that was still there watching the exchange between the two shinobi with interest. "Thank you Hokage-sama, it was thanks to your training that I was able to survive against Takashi." That wasn't a stretch by any means, it was the two jutsu given to him by the Hokage that allowed him to land a meaningful blow on the man rather than his self created jutsu.

The Hokage raised his hand to silence the blond, "I merely sharpened the blade, you used it." The Sandaime stood from the chair and gave another smile to the blond before leaving to continue his work.

Naruto dropped back into his bed feeling even more exhausted than before the meeting. There wasn't much he could do to prepare for the ANBU testing since he was scheduled to be released tomorrow afternoon and the test was the day after. However, there was one thing he could do tomorrow, no matter how depressing.

xXx

Naruto stood in front of the kunai shaped monument with hundreds of names engraved on it, each sharing a single trait - they died in the line of duty. Naruto's eyes traced, Isao and Masashi's names over and over. It was the blonds first team and if he were to be completely honest, his first friends.

The last Uzumaki lit the candles around the monument with a minor application of _Katon_ chakra and stood silently as they burned out.

"Don't let loose yourself in grief, move on." Came the familiar voice of Naruto's ex-sensei Kakashi from behind him.

Naruto hasn't thought of the strict Jōnin since his failed test, granted Naruto didn't particularly like the Jōnin but there was a lot of respect for the shinobi that he was. That was the only reason Naruto didn't ignore him and leave.

"I'll try." Responded Naruto not wanting to talk about it, the wounds were still much to fresh to consider moving on just yet.

Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder, looking up he saw the understanding in Kakashi's lone eye. "Trust me when I say this, lingering in grief is the worst thing you could possibly do. Keep their memories and continue to live, it's what they would have wanted."

Naruto nodded in response to the words of wisdom and left the Jōnin to himself.

' _What a hypocrite I am…_ ' Thought Kakashi before reading over his fallen teammates and sensei's names over and over again.

xXx

Naruto knew that he was in for a grueling test of his skills, the admission rate for ANBU was less than ten percent. So he walking into the ANBU headquarters ready for anything.

Inside, like he expected, was dark and solid concrete the only light source was a small office that had a small candle behind the ANBU that was at the desk with a glass separating him and Naruto.

"Uzumaki-san, this is your ANBU standard outfit, your mask is to be on at all times while on duty unless instructed otherwise. The identity of your ANBU comrades are for them to reveal, it is not prohibited but strongly recommended that you don't tell everyone your identity while on missions. The point of the masks are to remain unknown." Instructed the ANBU, his mask had tribal patters with no discernible meanings to the blond.

Naruto thanked the ANBU and walked into the changing room. The gear looked no better than the standard flak-jacket for Chūnin and Jōnin but on further inspection the material was highly protective and extremely durable.

The grey flak-vest, which is the best Naruto can describe it as was lighter than the green flak-jackets but much tougher, Naruto ran a kunai over it and the material wasn't even left with a mark.

The fabled ANBU-style - or rather - ANBU pants, were much different than the ones sold at shinobi outfitting stores. These had storage seals lining the inside of the pockets for even more weapon storage, they were made up of the same durable material as the vests and were shaded just right so that they don't give off light even while wet.

The most interesting piece of equipment to the Uzumaki was the mask. Lined with hardening seals and filtering seals to protect from poisons or shattering from impact. Naruto finished dressing himself and dawned his new identity, ANBU Operative: _Same (Shark)._

xXx

Walking into the main corridor of the ANBU headquarters Naruto was gapping at the size of it. Walkways above and below Naruto were littered throughout the underground building with no discernible pattern all leading to somewhere different, mix in the low light and Naruto was sure he would be getting lost in here quite often.

The smell or lack there of was the next thing he noticed, normally even somewhere clean like the Administrative building had a smell, the ANBU headquarters lacked any scent whatsoever. It really threw the blond off.

"Welcome, you're are to follow me." Naruto nearly flinched at the sudden voice that was to his left, the Uzumaki didn't smell, hear or feel someone approach him, these were the types of shinobi he was supposed to fight along side, as an equally, what a joke.

Naruto silently followed the ANBU operative through the maze of corridors until he was brought to a standard locker room. "This is where _Squad Ro_ , our squad, can keep personal belongings or normal clothes while on assignments, though remember the ANBU Standard attire is to be worn at all times and the mask is mandatory during any and all assignments under the ANBU banner."

Naruto was given a locker and followed as the ANBU walked him around showing him where the Med-bay, Mission Distribution desk, Training facilities, and lodgings where located. The blond was right when he thought about how large the ANBU headquarters were, it was like a castle that was mostly underground.

The guiding ANBU opened a door and the two found themselves outside in a forest clearing with several other ANBU all lounging in and around the trees. Naruto's tour guide turned and the blond finally noticed who was guiding him, ANBU Operative: _Tora_ the Taicho of Squad Ro.

"This is our newest recruit!" Started _Tora_ , the surrounding ANBU all turned their heads to the small blond haired ANBU, a few chuckled others snorted but Naruto got that all of them were assuming that he wasn't that strong.

"Now don't assume anything yet! I'm sure you all remember the last one that was his age when he joined…" _Tora-Taicho_ left that statement hanging in the air as the others nodded and rubbed their heads, the Uchiha massacre was a black-spot in the ANBU's reputation. After all, how could an entire clan be slaughtered in one night without them noticing?

With that out of the way _Tora_ cleared his throat, "Now for the next week we'll be working on team formations so that the new guy is up to our speed!" The others groaned and Naruto felt slightly embarrassed but steeled his resolve so that he could impress his team.

xXx

 _Hi no Kuni_ was a large country that for the most part was one huge forest with the occasional mountains and lakes peppered throughout. Naruto was starting to familiarize himself with every cliff and lake during the first month of his ANBU career.

Speaking of the month Naruto has learned the definition of training during his month. The only example of serious training he has ever had was when the Sandaime gave him a one on one session. With ANBU clearance and training, he has improved at a disgusting rate, his Ninjutsu arsenal exploded in size and diversity while his Genjutsu refined to a razor edge of death. The blond scarred himself with some of the things he could do with a few hand seals and a bit of focus.

 _Tora-taicho_ has been showing him the ropes and taking him on two man assignments to get him used to the pace of Black-Ops assignments.

Focusing back onto the mission Naruto stopped on the next branch and watched as _Tora-taicho_ weaved through special hand-signs that were coded so that only Konoha ANBU knew their meaning.

 _Six Hostiles - Genjutsu cover - Ninjutsu finish._

Naruto knew that Genjutsu cover was for him to handle, he was the teams best illusion weaver, the last Uzumaki carefully molded his chakra with three hand-seals casting an illusion over the entire area without hitting his team. The enemy shinobi's started to scream and hold them ears as the should of a high pitch screech filed the air.

While they were distracted _Tora-taicho_ and _Tori_ weaved through several seals and the ground broke apart revealing several enormous trees that ensnared the enemy shinobi before they could react. _Tori_ release a concentrated blast of _Raiton_ into each target with enough power to fry their nerve system.

With the targets killed, Naruto and the others molded _Doton_ chakra and caused all the bodies to be sucked into the ground before they sped off back towards the village without a moments pause. Naruto looked back at the scene of confrontation and repressed a shiver at their own work, not a single trace of the six targets in the twenty six second confrontation were left.

xXx

Naruto set his mask back into his personal locker and set his tantō down next to it, while off duty Naruto was more inclined to just carrying his shinobi pouch than all of his gear.

"That was good work out there Uzumaki! I have no doubt that they will push you through today." Came the cheerful encouragement of a fellow blond, the Yamanaka Kunoichi was the teams medic, sensor and communications specialist while also having skills in _F_ _ū_ _ton_ jutsu.

Naruto smiled at the cheerful woman, she was about fifteen years old. Her platinum blond hair was pulled into a high ponytail. She removed her _Dokuhebi (Viper)_ ANBU mask showing her angular face and light blue eyes.

"Thanks for the encouragement Katsumi, but it's up to the higher ups and they don't judge easily." Said Naruto trying to prepare himself for the possibility of not getting excepted.

The Yamanaka shook her head and and walked off, she hoped that her fellow blond made the cut he was extremely talented and very modest. It shocked her when they first met that he wasn't some arrogant boy that knew how talented he was, the last Uzumaki was constantly training so that he wouldn't hold the team back not knowing that he was already stronger than her.

Naruto closed his locker and walked into the lounge room and sat at one of the booths by himself. The ANBU Headquarters lounge was always occupied but never loud, must come for a meal or to wait for a mission to start never to really socialize.

Using this time to his benefit Naruto took out a small silver scroll from his shinobi pouch and started to read the contents. Naruto discovered that he was developing a second affinity with all of his ninjutsu training and has been slowly nurturing it, he was surprised to learn of his _F_ _ū_ _ton_ affinity but welcomed it.

 _Suiton_ was the most versatile element but wasn't the best at offense or defense, _F_ _ū_ _ton_ was the best offensive element so it was beneficial to learn.

The spot next to him blurred and a familiar ANBU appeared, "We are ready for you." Came the voice of _Tora-taicho_ before he left.

xXx

Naruto stood on a small circle illuminated by a single light in front of a high wall that at the top several important figures were sitting at telling the blond that it was a very tall desk rather than wall.

In the center was the Hokage who was gazing down at him without a single tell on his face as he scrutinized that blond that he hasn't seen in a month. To his left was the ANBU commander that looked to be going over some papers that were no doubt reports about him.

On the Hokages right was _Tora-taicho_ who Naruto couldn't tell what he was looking at since his face was covered by his mask. The other figures in the room were all of the active ANBU captains that were in the village at the moment.

Naruto was completely intimidated by the current group of people that were all focused on him as he furiously fought himself to stop the urge to look at his feet.

The same distorted voice of the ANBU Commander that the blond heard in the hospital spoke up, "Naruto Uzumaki, age: 10, Codename: _Same._ Operative completes his task effectively and to the highest possible standard, is quick to grasp the basics and fundamentals of the ANBU during my time instructing him. This was the most recent report given by your Taicho." Started the Commander before turning the page.

"Operative _Same_ is a mid-close range fighter, skill with Nin, Tai and Kenjutsu all to the standard of an ANBU operative. Genjutsu is above the standard and is the highest of any others in Squad Ro. Downfalls are that due to his age his stamina and chakra reserves are lower than most of the other members of the squad, however due to chakra control training Uzumaki has covered his downfalls acceptably preventing him from being a hinderance on long-term missions."

Naruto stood silently as the commander read off his captains report of him during the month. The Uzumaki didn't know if he was pushed through or not but he was glad that they didn't sound like he was weak, nonstop training has certainly paid off.

Unfortunately, Naruto still couldn't get a read on anyone from their body language.

It was the Hokage that spoke next, "From the reports of your Taicho and other members in Squad Ro, you normally would be pushed through without trouble. However your age is concerning to some members in attendance."

Several of the Captains leaned forward causing them to look even more ominous than before to the blond. It wasn't a surprise to him that some had reserves about his age, the last person that was accepted this young turn psycho killing everyone in his family except his brother. They obviously didn't want a repeat of that tragedy.

"That being said, your skill and the nearly unanimous decision to push you through has been accepted. Welcome to the _Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai_ Uzumaki Naruto." The ANBU Commander Said before his hands molded a strange seal and his left shoulder burned revealing the coveted red ANBU tattoo.

"Congratulations Uzumaki Naruto. Dismissed!"

xXx

Naruto happily slurped down his extra large miso ramen with a wide grin on his face. The owner - Teuchi - gave him his meal on the house in celebration of his acceptance into the ANBU much to the blonds happiness.

"So Naruto-kun, are you going to be too busy to come by now that you're some super special ANBU now?" Came the playful question of the waitress Ayame, she was the owners daughter and very nice girl that Naruto thought of as a older sister even though he doubted she thought of him as a younger brother.

Naruto swallowed his food and shook his head, he would never stay away from his ramen for an extended period of time if he could help it. Before he could voice that however a snort was heard next to him.

Turning to the source of the noise Naruto saw that it was a boy about his age with spiky brown hair and dark brown eyes, he had a similar face to that of the Sandaime and was a bit shorter than Naruto. He was wearing a short-sleeve blue shirt and dark brown shorts with his legs taped and his shinobi pouch on his right hip. The boy was Sarutobi Kento the villages resident trouble maker and constant bane to shop owners that fall victim to his pranks.

"How could this guy some special shinobi Ayame?! He's my age and I've never seen him at the academy!" He loudly declared while pointing at Naruto who wasn't showing any emotion on his face other than confusion, did the guy not recognize his attire it was worn by all ANBU and being the Sandaime's grandson he was sure to have seen one before.

Clearing his throat, "Actually I graduated about a year ago and I was just pushed through as a permanent member of the ANBU today." Reasoned Naruto while also gesturing to his gear and showing his tattoo to hopefully put this conversation to rest so the Sarutobi would let him finish his celebratory meal in peace.

The Sarutobi eyed him with a angry sneer before slamming money for his food down and standing up. "If some nobody like you could graduate early than I might as well go take the test myself." He said before stomping away towards that academy.

Naruto shook off whatever he was feeling and dived back into his meal not caring in the slightest about what just happened. He was too happy about being a full fledged ANBU!

* * *

 **Original Jutsu:**

 _Yaezaki no Jutsu_ (Double Blossom Technique) C-Rank: An original jutsu created by Naruto Uzumaki. The user sends out a stream of chakra to the intended target to influence the targets sight to see double. While still in it's infancy as a jutsu, Naruto Uzumaki has utilized it along side clones to throw off even the most experienced of opponents. With further mastery of this jutsu Naruto can manipulate the targets vision to see dozens if not hundreds of copies of the intended object making them mistake it for other jutsu more dangerous jutsu allowing user to finish their opponent.

 _Torapen no Jutsu_ (Transparency Technique) B-Rank: Created by Kurenai Yuhi. This user surround themselves with chakra to distort the air around them to bend light allowing them to appear invisible. If the user wants to conceal others within the jutsu they must be of similar or smaller sizes.


	4. The tree's shadow

Speed. The defining factor in a shinobi battle. He knew that he was outclassed in all aspects by his opponent but he was nearly an equal in speed. Which meant that he was still in this fight.

Naruto jumped from the branch he was crouched on to the ground just in time to avoid a stream of fire that scorched the tree he was just occupying. Naruto moved silently through the forest that was now clouded by the ash of the tree that was just destroyed.

Palming four shuriken Naruto flung them with all the strength his chakra infused arm would allow towards his opponent who leaned out of the way before speeding towards him now knowing his location.

Before he could weave seals for a jutsu his opponent was on him to unleash a flurry of attacks that Naruto did his best to redirect or block. The blond ducked under a hook only to be met with a knee to the face snapping his head back. Momentarily stunned by the hit, Naruto was on the receiving end of a kidney punch that made Naruto's eyes go wide from the pain. Half a second later he was hit by a hammer punch to the back of his head that sent him face first into the ground.

"That's enough." Came the monotone voice of _Tora_ as he stood between Naruto and his opponent.

The man brushed off his gear without a sound. He was large and bulky, easily the size of Hiroki, with broad shoulders and large arms that made it evident that he was a hand to hand specialist. He had short back hair that was slicked back and held in place by his ANBU mask that had an ape like design.

 _Gorira (Gorilla)_ nodded to his captain. _Gorira_ was the squad's foremost Taijutsu specialist, skilled _Katon_ user and Naruto's self appointed training partner. Naruto was one of the weaker Taijutsu users on the squad and the man made it a point to spar with the younger team member whenever they were between missions.

Gathering his strength Naruto managed to sit up. The blond leaned back onto his palms with raspy breaths from the physical abuse he was just on the receiving end of. Despite being in the ANBU Black Ops, Naruto was still privy to the fact that he was only slightly above average Chūnin level. Most ANBU hovered around low to high Jōnin-level and he was still far off from being at the desired level.

"You certainly don't pull your punches." Muttered Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head.

A deep chuckle was his response from the large man who's large arms were crossed over his chest as he appraised his junior member. He was impressed that the blond could keep up with him but knew that he was a long way off before he could fight back.

" _Gorira,_ you are to report to logistics. _Same,_ you have the rest of the day off." _Tora_ said in his usual authoritative voice. _Gorira_ didn't waste a single moment before he blurred away to where he was required.

 _Tora_ turned back to the young blond, "Focus on defensive stances and be patient. Skilled Taijutsu users have less holes but there's always an opening. Wait for your opportunity and strike with extreme prejudice."

Before Naruto could thank his captain the man was gone without a whisper. The blond could only shake his head, they enjoyed leaving him mid-conversation too much.

Seeing as how he was alone, he decided that now would be an appropriate time to practice his newest jutsu. Having finished his _F_ _ū_ _ton_ manipulation training he picked up his first jutsu, which was called _F_ _ū_ _ton: Ku Tenohira,_ the jutsu was simple enough to grasp. Molding chakra into the palms of his hands that compacted until the desired amount, when released two pressurized streams or wind were sent in the desired direction.

After the chakra was molded properly Naruto released the jutsu towards the forest. From Naruto's palms two highly pressurized streams of wind burst forth. Naruto directed one of his palms towards a tree, almost instantaneously the bark on the tree was torn apart and cracks began to form under the constant stream of wind. Moving his other palm towards the tree, the already cracking tree began to lean. Now determined, Naruto cranked up the chakra output to nearly double. The result was immediate, Naruto was blown back off of his feet and the tree he was battling with snapped in half.

The feeling of triumph at breaking the tree with his jutsu was overshadowed by his now bruised pride at being blown off his feet by a C-Rank jutsu that's typically used by Genin. To make matters worse Naruto could hear snickering from behind him.

"You know, in combat, staying on your feet is important cutie. What me to kiss your boo boo?" Of all people… and he could hear the grin on her face.

Naruto glared up at the amused Yamanaka hoping that if he ignored her she would go away. As much as he liked her at as a teammate, the constant…teasing was exhausting. The last Uzumaki knew it was her just trying to get a rise out of him but she always did it around the squad. He needed to show that he was mature and stuttering every five minutes wasn't helping!

"Want some company? I would feel horrible leaving you all by your lonesome." She said leaning over him with concern. He was sure that it was fake concern, she was a Yamanaka, they were the Clan known for mind games.

"Can I just lay here for a few minutes before dragging myself to Ichiraku Ramen like I do everyday." Muttered Naruto looking away from his fellow blond. This was his routine - train, hurt himself, then drag his ass to Ichiraku.

Instead of the sounds of someone walking away, Naruto was heard a chocked sob and was pulled into the arms of Katsumi. "Oh you poor thing! No friends, on the ground in pain after a humiliating display of a low ranked jutsu…Well bye!" He was dropped unceremoniously onto the ground before she happily walked away.

' _Ugh…sometimes…'_ Despite liking her as a teammate, she was an aggravating person.

xXx

"Our targets are: Fumio Kokaku and Ryota Kokaku. Former Tokubetsu Jōnin. Rather unremarkable shinobi, became Chūnin at sixteen and Tokubetsu Jōnin at eighteen. Both specialize in Taijutsu with minor Ninjutsu and Genjutsu skills. On record affinities are _Katon_ for both." Informed _Tora_ looking around to see if there were any questions seeing the blank masks looking back at him he continued.

"The targets have been hovering in this area for the past two days." Said _Tora_ as he pointed at the map of _Hi no Kuni_ that was spread across the table. Naruto, Katsumi and _Gorira_ stared at the map trying to memorize every mark on the large paper.

"We will be splitting into two, two-man teams before confronting them. _Same_ and _Gorira_ will be attacking from the east while _Dokuhebi_ and I attack from the south. _Same_ your task is to disorientate and bind while _Gorira_ and I attack. _Dokuhebi_ you will stay back to provide emergency medical on anyone should it be nessicary. If all goes according to plan we shouldn't be in the fight for longer than a minute." _Tora_ finally finished talking letting the rest of them absorb the plan and form any final questions or comments.

"Why did they leave?" Questioned Naruto. He knew that it wasn't something that ANBU should be concerned about but he couldn't help but ask. Despite his training, despite knowing that as a Black Ops member assassination was in the job description Naruto wanted to be sure that they were in the wrong.

 _Tora_ regarded Naruto with a silent gaze, seemingly debating whether or not telling him. Naruto steadied his breathing and made sure to conceal the tells that would show that he was rather unnerved by his captains intense gaze. "They stole several scrolls of Konoha originated _Katon_ jutsu to sell to other countries that lack them."

That made sense to the blond. The great five were named after one of the five basic elements. Conveniently, most users have the affinity that corresponds with the country of their origin. That being said a country like _Mizu no Kuni_ will have less _Katon_ jutsu than anywhere else since the elements are opposite one another. That would also explain why they were so close to the eastern border of _Hi no kuni,_ they obviously intend to go to Kiri.

Satisfied with the explanation Naruto nodded to his captain.

xXx

Scorched earth, craters and the smell of blood riddled the air.

He was panting, with every breath a moan of pain left his mouth, he could see him covered in blood next to him. It happened so fast, everything was going well just like planned and the next thing they new the world flipped and he was collapsed on the ground with several mortal wounds.

The muscles in his neck gave out and his head fell to the side to see a pair of legs standing several feet away. It appeared like they were talking, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Add bursted ear drums to the long list of injuries.

The ground under him groaned and opened up as if it were a mouth to swallow him whole. Injuries taking their tole, his vision started to blur. The last thing he saw were the masks of the Konoha ANBU that came to kill him and his brother.

xXx

Closing his eyes as he slurped down his favorite meal, ramen. He was interrupted by a hand that slammed down next his bowl. The force of hand was enough to wobble the bar sending his lunch falling towards the ground.

Naruto felt his world slow as his meal fell to the ground and the bowl shatter on impact. The owner and his daughter watched with wide eyes as their most loyal customer's food was ruined, they have known him long enough to know that his meal was sacred and those who ruin his food would be dealt with without mercy.

The blond's head turned robotically towards the assailant with unconcealed furry on his face. Naruto barely acknowledged that the perpetrator was the Sandaime's eldest grandson before grabbing him around the neck.

Kento's demeanor of a petulant child changed into horror as he looked into the eyes of his likely killer. Maybe attacking someone who was the village's latest prodigy wasn't his smartest move.

The slightly taller blond leaned towards the Sarutobi until their noses almost touched. "I'll give you ten seconds to convince me why I shouldn't end you."

The Sarutobi felt the pressure around his neck lessen and took in a massive breath. "I-I w-was coming h-here to talk t-to you a-abo-about tr-training and and uh. I'm sorry."

Naruto sent the most chilling glare he could at the Sarutobi while subtly utilizing a low-level Genjutsu to raise anxiety. After five unending seconds Naruto dropped Kento to the ground and called out for another order of ramen with a smile. He threw down a small brown pouchwith the Sarutobi Clan symbol stitched into the side to pay, it was filled with enough money to cover his complete dinner.

Rubbing his throat Kento slowly and carefully got to his feet and sat at the bar next to the bi-polar blond with hesitation.

"Ah! You do have friends!" Came the voice of a happy Yamanaka that nearly tackled Naruto off of his stool with a flying hug.

The blond in question snorted. "This one isn't my friend. He's more of a gnat." Grunted Naruto not willing to call the spoiled rotten Sarutobi a friend.

The arms around him let go and the weight on his back disappeared with a disappointed sigh from the kunoichi as she sat next to him at the bar. "Well he does look like a brat."

Ignoring the shout from the person in question Naruto hummed in agreement. "So what do you want?" Asked Naruto.

"I wanted to invite you to train over at my place. Between my annoying cousin constantly harping my uncle for more jutsu and taking up his time, everyone else working or on missions. I'm left without a suitable training partner." Explained Katsumi hoping to garner sympathy with her downcast expression. Naruto felt more skeptical than sympathetic but accepted the offer with a silent nod.

The kunoichi squealed happily before flickering out of the restaurant to the Yamanaka Clan compound with Naruto following suit.

Kento glared at the two empty bar stools with an irritated expression. He came here to question the blond, now he would have to track him down once again, which was much harder than he expected. He went to grab his money pouch for some food only to find it missing, thinking back to when Naruto grabbed him he let out a beast like growl when he realized that his pouch was stolen. "What the Hell!"

xXx

The Yamanaka Clan compound was different than others, most have private clan training areas, but the mind destroying family were more partial to having lush gardens and a park like compound. This meant that she was interested in testing out her mind jutsu rather than a spar like he thought, had he known he would have declined the offer. The last thing he wanted to do is be the ginny pig for her jutsu.

"So I want you to sit there and fight it." Instructed Katsumi before sitting in front of Naruto.

"Just make sure that I can still think by the end of this." Said an uneasy Naruto. Receiving a nod in return Katsumi held up a unique seal.

" _Shinrashin no Jutsu._ " Muttered Katsumi. He hands were in a strange hand-seal that Naruto didn't recognize.

Naruto felt the chakra invade his body, he lost control of his legs first. Naruto's body stood up, Naruto lost control of his hands next when he gave himself two slaps in the face. Apparently he was supposed to run since he was in a full sprint. His world went black when he went face first into a tree.

Katsumi walked over to the unconscious blond with a slight grimace, she tried to get him to turn but her control over the jutsu wasn't perfect and her friend paid for it. She reached down with a glowing hand to make sure nothing on the younger blond's face broke from his face hug with a tree.

"Daddy says that we shouldn't use people as test subjects." Katsumi rolled her eyes at the annoying voice of Ino Yamanaka, the heiress of the clan always spoke like she was above her.

"You know—"

Before Katsumi could give the spoiled girl a piece of her mind, a moan of pain came from the prone Naruto before he sat up while rubbing his head. "You know, this isn't what I expected when I agreed to train with you."

"Yeah. Haha. I didn't want you to run face first into the tree but, well…" Heartfelt apologies were never her thing.

"What kind of ninja allows himself to be the test subject for extremely dangerous mind jutsu?" Questioned Ino with her hands on her hip trying to seem like an authority figure.

Naruto turned to the girl who seemed to be about his age and judging by the lack of headband she was still in the academy. "Who are you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

That seemed to put the girl off as she huffed and turned her head away. "I'm Ino Yamanaka, my father is the head of the clan." She tried to sound like an authority figure.

Was he supposed to bow? Based on her tone she made it seem like he was supposed to know that already despite never seeing this girl before in his life. He could see that Katsumi was barely holding back her anger at being talked down to by an academy student with a large ego.

Naruto stood to his feet with a grunt. "Congratulations. I'm Naruto Uzumaki-" There was a squeal that interrupted him when the younger female turned to him with what appeared to be star struck eyes.

"You're Naruto Uzumaki! The youngest ANBU member in history! You're supposed to be some sort of genius prodigy, how could you let this one convince you to do something like this?!" Surprisingly Ino was aiming her…scorn? Towards Katsumi rather than him.

Though Naruto's eye brow twitched at her words. First, despite his psychological breakdown, Itachi was the greatest prodigy to come out of Konoha, he was a captain at thirteen. Then there was that word. Genius, he hated it, like it was the reason or explanation for his success. He worked hard to get where he was it wasn't some natural born gift, hundreds of hours of training got him here dammit!

Katsumi was about to tell the little bitch exactly what she should be doing when an older male's voice broke the tension.

"Ino that's enough! Let them work in peace." This one Naruto recognized.

Inoichi Yamanaka, the head of the Yamanaka clan, high ranking shinobi and the head of the Interrogation and Torture Division. Not someone Naruto wanted to offend and end up having his mind turned to jelly.

"I was just telling them that they should be careful." Muttered Ino as she followed her father away.

"Spoiled little…" Said Katsumi under her breath getting raised eye brows from Naruto.

"You alright?" He asked. As much as Katsumi annoyed him he didn't want her to be upset over some little thing. Until a thought came to him. "You know maybe it was just those two but my age group is full of assholes."

Katsumi giggled at the blond, nothing like an irritated Naruto to raise her spirits. "What do you mean?"

Naruto rolled his eyes before answering. "The Sandaime's oldest grandson is just as much of a brat as that Ino girl and both are my age. Am I a dick? I don't think I'm one." He had his face twisted into a frown thinking about himself.

"No you're not a dick or a brat. You're just a cute little killer." The last part was said with a baby like voice. She stood up with a sigh, "Sorry about my obnoxious cousin and the tree. I'll see you at HQ."

xXx

Naruto walked through the underground tunnels of the ANBU headquarters towards _Tora's_ office. He was called for a mission but wasn't told anything else.

Walking into the office Naruto was met with another example of how professional his captain was, and by professional he means boring. Other than the desk, some papers and a lamp there wasn't anything in the office to make it less bland. Oh well it wasn't his problem to design office spaces for black ops operatives.

"Good you're here, our assignment is one of absolute importance and discretion." Started _Tora._ He pushed the papers on his desk to the side and leaned forward.

"Our mission is off the records, only the commander and the Hokage know of it. We are tasked with infiltrating _Kumogakure no Sato._ " _Tora_ noticed that Naruto was confused by the tilt of his head but continued regardless. "Eight years ago, Hinata Hyuga was kidnapped by a Kumo shinobi who was killed by Hiashi Hyuga. After political maneuvering, Hizashi Hyuga's dead body was sent to Kumo in place of Hiashi's. They didn't get his byakugan but they did get his DNA and with it a child was born." _Tora_ trailed off at that point letting the exceedingly bright blond connect the dots to figure out the rest of the mission.

Naruto was glad that he was wearing his mask, otherwise his captain would see his wide eyes. Never would he have thought that he would be asked to do something like this. He was supposed to fight Konoha's enemies from the shadows, defend the village from unseen enemies, not kill children that were unlucky enough to be born with genes that made him a target. How could he do it? What kid of person would this make him?

"We will be leaving tonight. Get your affairs in order, this mission has no defined time range." Ordered _Tora_ while dismissing the blond with his hand.

Naruto walked out of the office with a numb feeling. Before he knew it he was sitting atop the Yondaime's stone head. Naruto threw his mask to the ground and looked over the village, all the smiling faces, the happy children, the brightness and content atmosphere. He now knew why so many children looked up to shinobi, why civilians felt safe around them and why the will of fire sounded so perfect.

Nobody knew what kind of shadow Konoha really had, how dark it really was. Naruto was learning that despite the grandfatherly smile and calm presence, the Sandaime was still as shrewd and ruthless as the man that was once called the _Shinobi no Kami_.

"It's a heavy burden." Naruto didn't even jolt at the sound of the Hokage's voice. He was used to be snuck up on at this point.

The Sandaime continued. "The world isn't as bright as most like to think. But it's up to people like you and I to make sure that they continue to think that for as long as possible. Someone has to do these things to keep the village safe and the people in it pure, even at the cost of our own souls. I chose you for this mission because despite your age, I know that you are stronger than most of the shinobi in the village and I believe that you could handle it."

Naruto sat in silence looking out into the village with a downcast expression. He wasn't feeling the same joy that he used to get from the Hokage's compliments, now he was only thinking about the child in Kumo that he was being sent to kill. It couldn't be older than seven, the kidnapping happened a little over eight years ago and nine months for the pregnancy and there was no telling how long it took to harvest the DNA. A child, a baby that didn't know how short his life was going to be. Naruto new that he shouldn't do this that it was wrong.

But…

Something in him, a small voice or something he couldn't explain. He felt the need to do this, not that he wanted to kill a kid or do any type of mission like this. But he felt the need to do this because if he doesn't then someone else will and he wouldn't let something like that happen if he could help it. The Sandaime in all his hypocritical wisdom was right, they had to destroy their soul so that others didn't and if the Hokage felt that he was strong enough then he wouldn't let him down.

Naruto turned his head towards his leader and gave a firm nod. The Sandaime left without another word all that changed was a small proud smile on his face as he walked away.

xXx

Two days of travel went by at a snail like pace, Naruto had thoughts running through his head at a mile a minute. _Tora_ was silent as usual, only speaking when necessary. This made it hard for Naruto to find out how the man felt about their mission. He had to know if _Tora_ was feeling any sort of remorse or if he had a coping technique. _Kami,_ the mission hasn't started and he already needed to cope with it, how will he be after the fact?

 _Tora_ signaled for them to stop once they were within sight of the village. The two were standing at the top of a tall mountain over looking the village, Naruto was worried that this was a terrible spot to be but apparently _Tora_ was a skilled sensor thanks to his implanted kekkei genkai.

"From here we will be entering without our masks or uniforms. I will be your big brother, we are traveling the world together looking for the best food and this was our next stop." Came the monotone voice of _Tora_ before he took of his mask off to reveal a stone face without any real distinguishing features. Naruto followed suit and the both of them changed into their civilian clothes.

Naruto decided now would be a good time to ask. "So, you and I don't look that alike. Besides the obvious hair color difference, our facial features aren't similar at all either."

The unmasked ANBU captain turned to the blond and held up a bottle of brown hair dye. Naruto took it and started applying it to his hair.

"The best disguises are ones that are real. A genjutsu would have worked until someone broke it. As for our facial features, nobody looks that closely at civilians." Assured _Tora_.

Naruto washed his hands with a minor application of _Suiton_ chakra and dusted himself off. His once spiky blond hair was now chocolate brown, Naruto didn't mind the color change to be honest. He wore a white V-neck shirt and blue baggy cargo shorts. "So what do I call you?"

"Tenzo."

xXx

"I would recommend the 'Golden Dragon'!" Called out one of the Chūnin guards with a smile.

As the two undercover ANBU walked Naruto turned to his 'elder brother' with a sweat-drop. "I literally can't believe that worked." Muttered Naruto.

To his never ending shock Tenzo cracked a smile. "Yes, my sempai actually showed me that trick. It's so innocent and interesting that nearly everyone would believe it. The only one that didn't believe it when we tried to use it was a gate guard in a small village that knew the food in his village was terrible." Chuckled Tenzo as they walked.

Naruto was busy getting over the fact that his stoic and deadpan captain was actually showing emotion to respond. They walked through the village without any sort of direction, Naruto took in the sights with child like curiosity, it was the first time that he has been to a different shinobi village.

"From our intel, they are keeping the boy in a underground facility for most of the day. For two hours every day he goes to a local playground to exercise. That will be our window." Informed Tenzo in a whisper.

Naruto nodded along with everything he was saying. He will most likely be guarded the entire time, both in the open and a few in the shadows. They would have to have a distraction and flawless execution. This would take time, a lot of time.

xXx

Predictable. Something that no shinobi should ever become, predictable means vulnerable, if someone knows your patterns then you can be damn sure that somewhere along your path will be something ugly. For the past week Naruto and Tenzo have methodically watched every move that the boy and his protection detail did whenever they were above ground.

Naruto had a lead on a potential spot, despite following a strict pattern, yesterday they made a stop at one of the sweet shops to buy the kid candy. They never did that during the week, but when the kid asked for it they stopped and gave him the candy he requested. This is something they can work with. Hardening his heart Naruto went to his captain to relay his idea.

"Tenzo I know how we can do this."

xXx

His life was one of luxury and confusion. He was given pretty much anything he wanted, and could do whatever he wanted. But sometimes the people didn't listen, sometimes they would make him do tests, like look into a machine or take his blood. Sometimes a huge guy would come around and order everyone into doing stuff, he didn't like the big guy he was loud and scary. Most of the people here were scary, only mother was nice but she didn't come around any more, he missed his mother.

Today he was going to get to go to the park for an extra hour. Something about giving him extra time in the sun, he was quite pale from what he could see in the mirror.

Once he was outside he ran towards the swing, he loved the swings, it felt like he could fly. No matter how many times he went back and forth it was never enough, he always wanted to go one more time. He also liked to watch the other kids play with their friends or families, he wasn't allowed to talk with them but he did like to watch them so he could pretend that he was playing with them.

As he went over and came back down his swing he noticed an older boy wave at him. He's never had someone do that so he waved right back with a smile, nobody outside ever looked at him so this was great. After the boy left he felt the urge for some candy, he's been swinging for a long time so maybe his guard will get him some chocolate today.

He followed his guard to the sweet shop and the man bought him his chocolate bar. With a huge smile he bit into the candy and continued to do so until he felt a strange sensation in his stomach, it tingled.

He fell down and the man started to shake him with a scared look in his eyes. He could hear what he was saying and he didn't care, he was too tired to care. Maybe he'll fell better after his nap.

xXx

Naruto let tears fall freely as he ran through the planes of _Rai no Kuni_ , his clone just dispelled telling him everything that happened. Naruto secured his mask and continued to run next to his captain who didn't even flinch at the events that just happened.

Is that what he'll become? Was he going to become one of the emotionless drones that the ANBU turns some people into who can't cope with the stress? He didn't want that. He needed to do something to keep himself sane. Maybe this is what happened to Itachi, he was asked to do a mission that nobody should ever do and lost his mind.

Naruto could now see things from his point of view, at least a little bit.

* * *

 **Original Jutsu:**

 _Yaezaki no Jutsu_ (Double Blossom Technique) C-Rank: An original jutsu created by Naruto Uzumaki. The user sends out a stream of chakra to the intended target to influence the targets sight to see double. While still in it's infancy as a jutsu, Naruto Uzumaki has utilized it along side clones to throw off even the most experienced of opponents. With further mastery of this jutsu Naruto can manipulate the targets vision to see dozens if not hundreds of copies of the intended object making them mistake it for other jutsu more dangerous jutsu allowing user to finish their opponent.

 _Torapen no Jutsu_ (Transparency Technique) B-Rank: Created by Kurenai Yuhi. This user surrounds themselves with chakra to distort the air around them to bend light allowing them to appear invisible. If the user wants to conceal others within the jutsu they must be of similar or smaller sizes.

 _F_ _ū_ _ton: Ku Tenohira_ (Wind Release: Air Palm) C-Rank: The user molds chakra in either or both palm until the desired density them release highly pressurized streams of wind that continuously hit the target until the user releases the jutsu. The jutsu can also be intensified while used to increase the damage so long as the user has proper control and enough chakra.


	5. Transitional

*Yama no Kuni (Land of Mountains) is the country where the Mountain Graveyard is located. It' unnamed in Canon so I'm giving it a name.

* * *

He was numb. Walking into the village after such a… task was hard. But he pushed through and followed his captain towards the ANBU HQ. The cool air blew through his hair as he jumped from roof-top to roof-top. Naruto looked out over his home that was settling down for the night but still felt warm and welcoming. Despite the darkness he just came back from he felt welcomed back and it _disgusted him._

He didn't deserve it and frankly, he didn't want it. Unknown to everyone except for himself, he was now going to go out of his way to earn this feeling that was trying to pry it's way into his chest.

Naruto and _Tora_ entered the ANBU HQ without so much as a sound. Naruto diverted his path towards the locker room to get changed while _Tora_ went to his office to write up his report to hand to the Commander. Who will likely destroy it after reading, then verbally report to the Hokage.

Naruto removed his mask. _Same,_ shark, carnivores animal that killed anything in it's way and ate what it pleased. Naruto now felt a kinship with his representative animal. Shedding his ANBU gear, Naruto put his civilian clothes and left the building.

The village was quiet and he was pleased by that, he didn't want to see smiling face or be reminded that nobody knew that he was now by all means a monster.

He will earn back the love of the village, even if they didn't know he didn't deserve it any longer.

xXx

In the wake of the Kyūbi attack, hundreds of children were orphaned, himself included. He knew the hardships of growing up in an orphanage, it was crowded and lonely. With that in mind Naruto went to the one he grew up in for the first five years of his life before he moved into an apartment as a shinobi in training.

Naruto entered the orphanage to a familiar site. The orphanage mother was sitting in her chair with a book while children ran around playing. A smile smile came to his face as he watched the innocent children play and declare that they were going to be the greatest shinobi to every live right before tagging their friend and running off.

Naruto stood before the orphanage women and offered a slight bow. "Greetings mother." It was the rule of this place, she was called mother by all the children and should you get adopted or move out the rule still applied otherwise she would hit you with a wooden spoon. Another smile found it's way to his face at the memory of a large wooden spoon smacking his head after he called her by her name after being given an apartment.

Eyeing the familiar blond with a stern yet warm gaze she let a small smile grace her aged face. "Naruto-chan, it has certainly been a long time. What brings you back here?" Questioned the women.

Naruto gave a small smile. "I was hoping that I could help you when I have time between missions. I remember my time in this place and any attention I got was far and few between so I thought I could return the favor."

The women smiled and gestured to the room before going back to her book. She has heard about her former charge these past years, he was making quite a name for himself despite being an orphan. It warmed her heart that he would want to come back and help the lonely children but she was far from stupid. Something happened and she would find out…

Naruto didn't notice the first hour that sped by, he was to busy listening to the enthusiastic girl tell him _very_ important things about everyone else. Naruto was surprised that so much was happening, between two of the boys constantly fighting and one of the girls leaving their group after an argument.

He couldn't figure out how they managed with such hardships…

"Then Dai, who didn't want to be apart of it, said that if it happens again that he would step in!" Squealed the girl to her new Ni-chan. Yui was ecstatic that Naruto-ni was going to be coming by when he got the chance from what he told her. She was a young five year old girl, short black hair framed her face and the tan dress gave her the most adorable appearance in the orphanage.

Naruto nodded with comically wide-eyes, if Dai stepped in then…

Wait. Why was he shocked? Dai was a calm guy but also the oldest of them so—

"So…are you one of those guys that are into doing good things like this for fun?" Came the question from the ever annoying Yamanaka that some how found him whenever it was inconvenient for him. Little Yui looked at the older blond girl with awe at her beauty, something that Katsumi noticed and smirked down at the young girl.

Naruto switched out of his Nii-chan mode and into Shinobi mode. "What is it?" He asked tersely. He didn't like the unwanted interruption, especially after his horror of a mission that he just got back from. Not to mention by the annoying Yamanaka who was always involved.

Katsumi ignored his tone, sitting down next to the blond and across from the young girl she turned to him. "I heard you got back last night and wanted to see if everything was good. We didn't hear anything about where you and captain went only that it was important."

Naruto wasn't sure if she was slowly losing it or if he was having a stroke but it sounded like there was a small amount of concern in her voice. "I can't talk about it, but everything went fine." Answered Naruto with a flat tone, thinking about that mission was the literal opposite thing he wanted to do right now.

Not prying any further Katsumi turned to the younger girl. "So who might you be?"

xXx

He has acquired many things in his decades of service. An unbreakable pokerface, unrivaled knowledge and the ability to compartmentalize. Had he not gained the last ability the mission he had sent the growing Uzumaki and his Captain on would weigh far to heavily on his heart to continue serving as Hokage. The assassination of a five year old innocent child…

"Can you now see why Root was so important?"

The Sandaime turned to his shadowy counterpart with a blank face with a hand going to his pocket for his pipe. He needed a smoke.

After letting out a long stream of smoke that filled the room with the smell of tobacco the Sandaime responded. "During that time it was…But I am more than capable of issuing these tasks and my shinobi are strong enough to carry them out."

The bandaged war-hawk didn't reply but started their next line of discussion. "My shinobi have came back with reports about _Yu no Kuni._ Activity that reminds me of the Second shinobi war is brewing there."

Hiruzen closed his eyes at that. During the second shinobi war, _Yu no Kuni_ remained neutral for the first few months before attacking any who crossed into their borders before fighting on their own against Konoha and Kumo on both sides. Needless to say the conflict lasted roughly a month before they surrendered…and they only lasted that long thanks to the efforts of a lone clan that possessed great strength. The Abelard Clan, if they were on the rise once more it would be best to deal with them swiftly. Not only did they regularly produce prodigious shinobi but their clan's Taijutsu was quite fearsome, up there with the Hyūga clan's _Juken._

"How would you suggest we proceed? We have a border agreement with _Yu no Kuni's_ Daimyo, something I don't want going away because of rash actions."

Danzo sat in the chair across from the Sandaime and gave an unnoticed sigh. Sending ANBU might be too much for a task such as this, should something happen and they get seen it could be the spark needed for another war that nobody wanted.

"A Genin team under the guise of an escort mission with the Jōnin having the side objective should work." Suggested Danzo.

The Sandaime remained silent while smoking his pipe to sooth his nerves. "That could work…"

xXx

Genjutsu was an art that was determined by the mental abilities of the user, Naruto was quite smart in his own opinion and his chakra control was now to the acceptable ANBU-level of ninety-five percent. Not quite to Kakashi Hatake's impressive ninety-nine or Tsunade Senju's perfect one hundred but to him it was more than enough. So with these two things his illusionary skills are starting to take root in a branch that is usually tossed aside for more offensive Genjutsu.

Naruto was sparring with _Kaito (Kite)_ their squads resident…shinobi. He wasn't spectacular in any field, two elements with acceptable control, acceptable Taijutsu and passable Genjutsu. To Naruto it was a perfect sparing partner since he wasn't weak to any field.

Naruto weaved sixteen handseals in-between punching and blocking blows with _Kaito._ This was something _Gorira_ taught him since being able to use jutsu in the middle of Taijutsu was invaluable, much to the blonds agreement and appreciation.

Naruto leaned away from a kick that would have certainly broke something and sent his chakra forward, when he felt it take hold Naruto sped into his opponent. _Kaito_ suddenly sent a punch to his right, the opposite direction of Naruto and received a chakra enhanced haymaker that launched him into a tree getting a grunt out of the ANBU.

Naruto smirked under the mask at his jutsu before weaving two hand-seals. Water spewed from his mouth flying towards his sparing parter who who put his arms up in the opposite direction once again. The water his with enough force for _Kaito_ to end the spar.

"What was that?" Questioned the masked shinobi feeling a sting to his pride at being the first ANBU to lose to the young blond.

"My Genjutsu, _Shukakutento,_ alters your perception by reversing everything you see and do." Revealed Naruto with a small hint of pride in his voice, after all it was usually him on the losing end of a spar. Now he was standing over his opponent telling them how he won.

 _Kaito_ stood without a sound. "Impressive, I will be prepared next time." Without another word he was gone.

With his sparring partner gone Naruto let out a disheartened sigh. Would it kill them to stick around and try to for some sort of camaraderie? The only member of his squad that frequently spends time with him is that unbearable Yamanaka. Well she wasn't that bad…she just didn't seem capable of being nice for extended periods of time.

Speaking of…

"I know you're there."

Hearing a foot being stomped on the ground he turned to see the subject of his thoughts walk into the clearing he was standing. She was out of her usual clothes in a very form fitting pair of dark-blue spandex with a white tank-top that showed off her bellybutton, the tank-top had the symbol for Yamanaka on the front. Naruto for the most part approved of the outfit with a slight blush…ANBU or not he was still an eleven year old boy in front of a very beautiful girl.

"You're getting better…you're not at the bottom of the food chain any longer." Praised Katsumi genuinely, he was impressed that after a few months he was finding his own in the Ops. She certainly took longer.

Naruto grunted slightly at that. No matter how much natural talent he may posses or hard-work he put into his training. He was still eleven, he was still inexperienced compared to the rest and he knew that he was a very long way off from his goal. But it was nice to hear that he was making progress from someone other than himself in the mirror.

"So what are you doing here? Clearly not training." Naruto asked lightly, trying not to sound dismissive of her presence.

The female blond leaned forward slight with a grin. "I want you to come with me to the Yamanaka compound for the clan dinner as my plus one. It gives me someone to talk to, it gives you time to spend around other people since I know you're lonely." Despite ending with a jib she still had an easy grin on her face.

After her offer registered Naruto nearly recoiled back…nearly. He took pride in his self control so he didn't give her such a glaring reaction he settled with an ever subtle jaw drop. Why on earth did she invite him?!

"With you inviting me to train and now this…maybe you also have no friends." Shot back Naruto. He wasn't in the best place mentally since he was still trying to come to terms with his latest mission and dealing with the this might back him involuntarily, or Kami forbid, voluntarily lose his mind.

Narrowing her eyes at his words. "I have plenty of friends and I'm inviting you for _your_ sake. I'm a master of psychology and the mind in general. No matter what you believe, you are too young for this type of work and you need outlets to keep you from losing it. This village has seen what happens if a prodigy like you buckles. I know you think I'm overbearing or even antagonistic but I do it to get reactions to make sure that you still have humanity left. I don't know what but after your latest mission you lost some of it and I want to help you." She finished gently, it was her duty as a squad mate, Yamanaka and friend to make sure that he didn't lose it or have him leave the squad before he does.

The sincerity in her words threw Naruto through a loop. Was he really so blind to not notice that she was prodding him, it did make sense that after every one of his missions or loses when sparring that she was conveniently there to mess with him. The young blond felt a warmth in his chest at these revelations, someone was looking out for him and from what he could tell it wasn't because she was told to but because she wanted to. It brought the first smile to his face since the mission to _Kumo_.

Naruto nodded to the girl. "I'll be there."

xXx

The Yamanaka clan was the only group of people in _Hi no Kuni_ that possessed blond hair. Suffice it to say, Naruto felt like he found his long lost family as he stared into the sea of platinum haired people. But other than hair he and the clan were quite different, the Yamanaka were very subtle and were constantly testing their opponents with calculative eyes and cold logic…come to think of it maybe they were a little alike.

Sitting at the absurdly large table with Katsumi on his left and some random Yamanaka on his right engaged in conversation with the person to his right. Apparently Katsumi was Inoichi's niece meaning that they were right near the head of the table with Nozari, Inoichi's wife and Ino sitting across from them. Nozari was asking noninvasive questions to the two ANBU operatives while Ino was throwing in her own inquiries to supply her gossip well mostly irrelevant questions such as.

"Which would you prefer long hair or shot hair?"

Naruto not exactly knowing the purpose of the question answered as best as he could. "I uh, long hair I guess." Answered Naruto with a nonplused expression.

Ino, happy with the response nodded. Her mother gave her an exasperated look before smiling pleasantly at the young boy. She needed to get to it, "I apologize if this seems too personal but what made you want to enter the ANBU at such a young age?"

That gathered the attention of Inoichi who was quietly conversing with Katsumi and the girl herself also turned since she too was curious.

Naruto looked down at his plate of food in thought. Why? He was given the opportunity to break records doing something at such an age and gain recognition that would help towards his goal. However, his goal has always been small and shortsighted. Finding out who his parents were shouldn't have been his sole motivation thus far…but when he thinks about it it's all he had. From a very young age he was pushed towards the academy to become a shinobi and from there he was pushed further until he found himself in the ANBU.

"It's just where the pieces fell Nozari-san." Naruto answered narrowed eyes aimed at his food.

That apparently wasn't the right answer as the Yamanaka matriarch let a frown grace her face. Such a young boy, the same age as her daughter, yet he is fighting in the shadows as an assassin. It was quite sad for a mother to see that but it wasn't her place to say.

Inoichi on the other hand decided to enter the conversation. "Naruto-san, it's unhealthy to be in such a stressful career with no end goal."

Naruto didn't respond still lost in his thoughts. Katsumi was sending the blond looks throughout dinner trying to make sure he was alright while Ino was gracing the others with tales of the legendary Sasuke at the Academy.

xXx

 _Tora_ sat behind his desk without so much as a word as he went through reports by his subordinates. As the Captan of Squad Ro he was to process all of his squads assignments, organize and file them with the commander who will repeat the process before handing them to the Hokage. It kept the paper organized and kept the work load for the higher ups less turbulent.

His squads rookie, actually he couldn't call him that anymore. After their mission to _Kumo_ two months ago _Same_ was a full-fledged Operative who's coming into his own, if _Tora_ could say so himself.

When _Tora_ was given the rank of captan last year from his sempai, he expected to crumble under the pressure but it would seem that his training in _Ne_ and working under _Inu-Taicho_ was enough to prepare him for the duties as a captan. Now he feels small amounts of pride every time a subordinate uses his teachings in the field. But never mind that, he couldn't lose himself in thought with all these unsigned reports, it would be unbecoming of his position to daydream.

So _Tora_ grasped the next report and read over it.

 _Operatives: Gorira - Same - Kaito_

 _Assignment - Operatives are to infiltrate Yama no Kuni. Country was reported to have multiple Missing Nin entering and exiting. Asses the threat and report activity if targets are A-Rank or higher. If below - Eliminate._

 _Report - Operatives Gorira, Same and Kaito encountered three Missing Nin all ranked B by the Bingo book and engaged. Gorira suffered minor injuries with Same and Kaito being unscathed. Targets Eliminated. Activity was a small camp that were led by the three Missing-nin that was located near the border, Operatives eliminated all hostiles and removed traces before returning._

 _Tora_ signed the bottom of the paper and put in the completed stack before moving on to the next one. Such was the monotony of paper work.

xXx

Naruto walked with a subdued pace and a slightly irritated expression. He was tasked with notifying Iruka Umino that he was to report to the Hokage's office after a particularly annoying time catching Sarutobi Kento after his most recent prank.

He was walking towards a food stand to eat when across the way a building went up on yellow smoke. Instantly responding, thinking that it was poison Naruto burst into action only to hear a cackling Sarutobi and a yellow building and anyone unfortunate to be standing near it was covered in paint.

Naruto went to work immediately and hogtied the Sarutobi then dropped him at the feet of the Hokage who had him retrieve the Chūnin Instructor.

Entering the Academy after so long felt weird, maybe it was because he wasn't here for the standard amount of time or because the time that he was a shinobi was so exhausting that it felt like a lifetime already.

"—that is what was said by the Nidaime Hokage when he took office any guesses why he was so interested in—" Iruka paused when he heard the door to his classroom slide open.

A blond dressed in the ANBU standard garb sans mask with an irritated expression on his face entered the room.

The students in the class blinked owlishly at the new arrival, some even knowing who it was. Ino grinned down at her fellow blond and turned to the girl next to her who had the most peculiar pink hair.

"I know Naruto-kun forehead, he must be here for me." She said with a flick of her hair. The pinkette only responded with a snort as she watched the scene play out.

Naruto let out a sigh as he looked at the older Chūnin. "Hokage-sama requests your presence. It pertains to a certain missing student." Naruto said tersely, he really didn't want to have to do this but the Hokage's word is law and he must obey.

Iruka seemed to realize who he was talking about as his face turned pale and he looked around the room searching for someone. When he found that they were missing a certain Sarutobi he knew what was up, Kento was causing trouble again.

"Thank you Naruto-san. Everyone, read over your text books while I'm gone." Ordered Iruka while looking at the rowdier ones with a glare. Now he had to retrieve his most troublesome student.

Naruto gave the class a once over not caring at their reactions in the slightest before leaving in a _Shunshin_. Or he was about to when he was called out.

"Oi! Who are you?!" Shouted a boy in the middle of the room with spiky brown hair held in by his hoodie, a small dog was in the front of his jacket and yipped after his master. Naruto recognized Ino who was berating the boy for calling out an ANBU.

Naruto looked at him for a moment, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, goodbye." This time Naruto managed to leave before anyone said anything.

xXx

Strange feelings rushed through his mind as he traveled with his partner over the seemingly never ending forest of _Hi no Kuni._ For some reason the blond ANBU couldn't help but feel as though this mission was going to go to shit before the end.

He was apart of a two-man squad for his latest mission, he and _Kaito_ were given an Assignment to the newly dubbed _Oto no Kuni_ the Country formerly known as _Ta no Kuni_ was under new leadership. The Higher-ups deemed this worthy enough for a scouting mission and they were the lucky ones tasked with going.

As they neared the border he and _Kaito_ slowed to make sure that any shinobi that may be guarding the border wouldn't be able to sense their chakra as they tree jumped. _Kaito_ weaved familiar hand-signs giving Naruto his task.

 _Split up - Proceed in Shadows - Meet inland - 2 hours._

Naruto sent back an affirmative and traveled in the north-eastern direction while _Kaito_ went north-western. To Naruto, splitting up in a mission like this already having a feeling in his gut about this mission but _Kaito_ was in charge and Naruto wasn't about to question authority on a gut feeling.

As he traveled north Naruto was hit with a peculiar smell, it was a mix of citrus and something else he couldn't quite place. But he could tell what was causing a smell like this, _shampoo,_ someone was close.

Crouch walking through the bush Naruto heard talking.

"Those shit heads will never be up to Orochimaru-sama's standard at this rate! Jirobo is taking too long on his _Doton,_ Sakon and Ukon keep arguing and Kidomaru hasn't been back from his mission in almost a month!" Came the angry voice of some female.

That bit surprised Naruto, if he heard her correctly then these shinobi were subordinates of the most notorious missing-nin in Konoha's history. This was bad, he was by no means delusional enough to think that he could even hope to stand a chance against that man. Naruto turned his attention to the girl that was talking.

Naruto noticed that she was around his age. Her attire was a black shirt under a tan tunic with elbow-length sleeves and bore the symbol for something on the hem, and black skin-tight shorts. She wore black arm-warmers, traditional black shinobi sandals with calf-length leg warmers covered by bandages, and a purple, rope-like belt tied in an inverted bow around her waist. Tayuya also wore a black hat with pipe-like stripes and bandaged sides, keeping her bangs in place while the rest is pushed back behind her ears to trail down her back.

Naruto couldn't help but notice that she was pretty but he squashed the eleven year old boy mindset out of his head and focused on being an ANBU Operative.

"Tayuya. We're being watched." Came the monotone voice of whoever she was talking to. Naruto's eyes widen in shock, he was under a powerful Genjutsu, unless they possessed a Doujutsu there was no way they knew he was there.

Naruto saw the girl turn to her right rather than towards Naruto. "Yeah he's been here for a minute." She sneered.

The man now in Naruto's vision walked in the direction that they sensed a presence. His outfit consisting of a light lavender, loose-fitting, long-sleeved, zip-up shirt, black pants cut off around mid-calf, bandages wrapped around his ankles, traditional shinobi sandals, and a purple, rope-like belt tied in an inverted bow around his waist. The expression on his face meant business.

Before either of them could shoot into action the viewing party sent out a _Katon_ jutsu that caused the two mysterious shinobi to separate less they get turned to ash by the stream of fire. Naruto happened to recognize the jutsu as _Katon:_ _Ryūka no Jutsu_ , which was a Konoha jutsu and that meant that _Kaito_ was down there, or some random Konoha Shinobi that just so happen to be around here gathering intel—

"You two think you can stand to the great and powerful Jiraiya-sama!" Came the joyous roar of the man who was in the bushes, Naruto immediately recognized him as the _Gama Sennin_ and one of the _Sannin_.

Jiraiya has a wart on the left side of his nose and waist-length, spiky white hair that he tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face. There were red lines under his eyes going all the way to the bottom. His attire was a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armor that was visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore hand guards, a black belt, traditional Japanese wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side. He carried a large scroll on his back, he has a tattoo on his left palm, and he wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for "oil".

Seeing the legendary Shinobi filled Naruto with hope that he were going to make it out of this alive.

The two shinobi jumped into action after the fire died down, the male looking completely calm with the girl having a furious expression on her face. Naruto deciding to help and weaved several hand-seals and molded his chakra outward for a Genjutsu.

Down below the male pointed all the of his fingers toward the _Sannin_ and from his finger tips shot hundreds if not thousands of small white needle like things that flew threw the air at frightening speeds. The girl remained calm as she watched her friend or teammate attack the _Sannin._

Jiraiya looked impressed by the jutsu but was quick to respond in the most peculiar way, his white spiky hair wrapped around his body and seemingly hardened as the white projectiles bounced off his hairy armor. Almost at the same time, his hair released a wide spread jutsu consisting of hundreds of senbon.

The two shinobi jumped towards Jiraiya much to their own shock and were on the receiving end of the _Sannin's_ jutsu. The girl was perforated by the needles and fell to the ground in a bloody heap while the projectiles bounced off of the guy.

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed at the turn of events, those two jumped into his jutsu which made no sense to him but even more strange was that the boy wasn't even pierced by the jutsu. The only thing the _Sannin_ could chalk it up to is Genjutsu but he wasn't that talented in the field nor did he even cast one. Someone else was here, someone on his side…

For now he pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the boy in front of him, he accidentally killed one and needed to capture this one for information on his teammate.

Naruto who was now situated in a tree under the _Torapen no Jutsu._ Was trying to think of a way to help, but his Genjutsu weren't really used to bind or immobilize mostly to hinder as he was doing or kill and he wasn't sure Jiraiya-sama wanted this one killed. So he was just going to keep his _Shukakutento_ active while Jiraiya-sama does his thing.

The male managed to jump back already figuring out the mysterious jutsu that was causing him to move in the opposite direction he wanted.

"I didn't expect to run into Orochimaru-sama's teammate here. You killed Tayuya with that jutsu and this annoying Genjutsu. I was unaware that you utilized Genjutsu." Muttered the male with an expressionless face and monotone voice.

Jiraiya stood calm but had an easy grin on his face. "Well I gotta make sure that ole Rochi's not up to no good out here. Now will you be a good boy and come with Jiraiya-oji and tell me what your boss is planning."

The white haired enemy shinobi didn't even twitch in response before from his palms two long white bone-like swords protruded out of his hands and he took a stance. From his chest, black tattoos spread over his body as his chakra spiked.

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at the cursed seal's activation and shot into action with speed that the mutated shinobi was unprepared for, Naruto above could only see a blur of movement.

Jiraiya sent a powerful kick to the enemies stomach causing the mutant shinobi to slide back from the kick and was hesitant but swung his bone swords towards the _Sannin._ Jiraiya avoided the attack and like the previous kick, Jiraiya's palm strike hit his opponent in the chest but to the _Sannin_ it felt as though he stuck solid steel.

As the palm stuck him in his chest he sent out several white spikes from where his ribs were almost piercing Jiraiya in the arm but the older-nin managed to gain some distance without a seconds hesitation.

"I've never seen it in action before but now I'm sure. You have the Kaguya clan's Kekkei Genkai, _Shikotsumyaku._ The ability to utilize bones as weapons and harden them to the point where they are stronger than steel."

Naruto up above widened his eyes yet again, ' _I've never heard of such a thing. Maybe I should help out…no Jiraiya-sama is more than capable._ ' He thought before feeding more chakra into his Genjutsu to keep it active.

The Kaguya clan member shot into action yet again and Jiraiya noticed that like before he hesitated before he moved. Jiraiya waited for his opponent attack and in the half second that he hesitated Jiraiya swept his legs out from under him and coated his right arm in _Doton_ chakra before bringing it down on his opponents chest causing him to vomit blood.

Jiraiya repeated the action with a stomp as he looked down. "You are talented, obviously Jōnin level. But that hesitation before every action was enough to finish you without any effort. You Kekkei Genkai protects you from external damage but not internal from a highly pressurized strike. You most likely have severe internal injuries." Spoke Jiraiya with a serious expression before turning to the trees to look directly at Naruto.

Naruto flickered towards the ground and dropped the Genjutsu. "Jiraiya-sama." Muttered Naruto with a respectful incline of his head.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at the young ANBU operative before narrowing his eyes slightly at the spiky blond hair that reminded him of his student. ' _…Naruto…_ ' So the rumors from back home were true his, godson was making quite a name for himself in the Shinobi corps and managed to join the ANBU at an unprecedented young age.

"Nice to meet you _Same-chan._ Mind telling me what you're doing here?"

"Mission Jiraiya-sama, we were tasked with investigating this country after it's change in management."

Jiraiya nodded, he was there for that reason himself but also had a clue and with the Orochimaru followers here, he now knew for sure. Jiraiya slammed his hands onto the ground and summoned a toad with a cork in its mouth with a seal on it.

"I need you to seal the body of the girl and bind the boy and take them to _Konoha_ for interrogation. Inoichi should be able to get something from the girl and the boy is still alive." Ordered Jiraiya, the Toad nodded and followed it's masters orders and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto watched the events with an interested expression under his mask, he's never seen a summon before so this was quite the treat.

After that was said and done he turned back the young ANBU "Well your mission is done, are you alone?"

Naruto shook his head. "My partner for the mission should be on his way here. Anybody close to this area was bound to hear that exchange and he'll think I was ambushed."

Jiraiya nodded at that. "Well get out of here, this place is going to be a hot spot and the last thing we need is for them to know that _Konoha_ is snooping around here." Ordered Jiraiya, not looking away until his godson nodded.

"Jiraiya-sama, may I ask what you're doing here?"

Jiraiya grinned down at his godson. "As _Konoha's_ Spy master I follow as leads that could have something to do with the security of my home. Anyway I got to go, stay safe brat!"

Naruto watched as one of the strongest shinobi on the continent left without another word.

Before Naruto could leave the area _Kaito_ jumped down next to Naruto. After retelling the events of the fight and Jiraiya's presence _Kaito_ nodded once and signaled for them to return home. Their mission was completed, albeit by the _Sannin_ not them but it was done so time for them to head home.

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes:_**

Chapter was kinda all over the place I know but I wanted to show a lot of different stuff before the Oto mission. Naruto and JIraiya met *le gasp* well only one of them knew the importance of the meeting but whatevs.

Leave reviews. I want to hit a 100!

Anyway check out my other story _Konoha's Golden Beast_ It's an original Idea with a nice AU, examples: Alive!Kushina, Goodish!Orochimaru and so on it's worth a look!

 **Original Jutsu:**

 _Torapen no Jutsu_ (Transparency Technique) B-Rank: Created by Kurenai Yuhi. This user surrounds themselves with chakra to distort the air around them to bend light allowing them to appear invisible. If the user wants to conceal others within the jutsu they must be of similar or smaller sizes.

 _Shukakutento_ (Reverse the order of Importance) B-Rank: The user sends a steady stream of chakra to the intended target that manipulates their vision and motor function into operating in the opposite fashion than desired. The affected target will want to walk forward but will instead walk backwards, the affected target will see something coming on the left and respond in the opposite direction completely. Masters of the jutsu can completely invert all vision making the target even see everything upside down.


	6. Following in the footsteps

The newly dubbed _Oto no Kuni_ was becoming a hot spot for _nuke-nin_ activity in the past two months since his mission to the country. Naruto was given a debriefing and sworn to secrecy about what he heard from the two sound ninja. While he didn't agree with keeping it from other ANBU- he did think that it would cause panic if people knew that someone like Orochimaru had an entire country to himself.

 _Squad Ro_ was given several missions to secure their borders and several garrison points since learning of how close the enemy was to home. With the increased rate of missions and their danger levels rising- Naruto has increased his training.

Since mastering the _Shukakutento,_ Naruto has pulled back on his Genjutsu study and has been perfecting his _Suiton_ even further. He was at a disadvantage when in fights around no water source as he has to burn through considerable amounts of chakra to produce it internally. His goal was to recreate the Nidaime's method, but he was too pressed for time to try and recreate it by himself. He needed it now if he wanted to survive in the dry environments he's been frequenting.

With that in mind, Naruto was on his way to speak with the Hokage for any information regarding the deceased Senju's methods. After all, if anyone knew anything about it- it would be one of his students.

Naruto rapped his hands on the Hokage's office door and waited for permission to enter. When he heard the affirmative the blond walked in, with it being his day off he was in form fitting black suit that was standard among Konoha shinobi with his Chūnin vest over it. He was getting strange looks as he walked through the village but he chalked it up to the fact that this was the first time people actually seen him without his ANBU attire since joining the organization.

The Sandaime sat behind his desk with his wrinkled and callused hands held in front of his face as he gazed at the young blond in front of him. It was seriously scary at how similar he was to his father.

Naruto kept his face composed but felt irritation when he realized that he still couldn't get a read on the Hokage after all this time, it was like he was a naive Genin sitting atop the monument again.

"Hokage-sama," Naruto bowed to show respect before steeling himself. "I wanted to ask if there was a chance I could look into the Nidaime's water based jutsu. Or his jutsu notes…" Naruto kept his face firm to show his seriousness but was slowly wilting under the intense gaze of the Hokage.

"Tell me," The Sandaime's hands set onto the table as he leaned forward slightly. "Why is it I should allow a rather young shinobi like yourself something like that. It's both highly classified information and very deadly."

Naruto closed his eyes and took a breath. "I might be one of the few who could use those jutsu. I have large reserves and very fine control, and I think I've proven I'm more than loyal to Konoha." Naruto sent a look to the Sandaime who closed his eyes in thought.

The office became silent as Naruto waited for the elderly Hokage to decide.

"Come Naruto." The Sandaime started to leave the office with Naruto trailing behind him. Apparently the answer was to be told in a separate location.

xXx

Most jutsu in the village were located in the Konoha library, it was sectioned off by clearance level and Naruto has enjoyed his ANBU-level clearance that allowed him free admittance throughout. But if someone were to think that is where all the jutsu in the village were located, they would be wrong.

Behind multiple layers of Genjutsu, several ANBU guards and a locked wooden door was the Hokage's vault. Within it held the infamous _Scroll of Seals_ and any jutsu deemed too dangerous or too valuable for standard shinobi. Normally only the Hokage and the ANBU Commander was allowed in the vault, but Naruto was trailing behind the Sandaime as he lead him through the dark aisles.

"This is where the Shodaime stored all of his jutsu, the Yondaime's notes on Time-Space jutsu and my various _S-Rank_ jutsu. The Nidaime was a meticulous person, anything he created was documented and stored here, anything and everything." The Sandaime's voice was warm and Naruto smiled at the information, it was interesting and he doubted very many others knew it.

The came to another hallway, on the ground was the symbol for second and the walls were lined with scrolls and books. Naruto shook his head at the sheer volume of information that the Nidaime created.

The Sandaime walked forward a bit and stood in front of Naruto. "These jutsu were created by the Nidaime and used only by him. Most of the jutsu that are used in the village were created by him but these were too valuable to just hand out. Unfortunately, he never wrote down his method out right but he did reference it in his _Suiton_ jutsu notes- so I'm sure you can work it out."

The Sandaime went to the wall and picked a book off the wall and looked through the pages. "This is all his notes on the _Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu_ , it goes in depth on his method of utilizing the jutsu, if you master it I'm sure you can work out the rest." Naruto held the book with nervous hands, this was the legacy of the Nidaime the man hailed as the greatest water-user to ever live.

"And Naruto," The blond turned to the Sandaime as he was walking away. "If you master that, I might let you have another look into my old sensei's jutsu. It's a shame nobody ever had the talent for them." Naruto nodded and started walking out of the vault to get to work.

xXx

 _Duck!_

Naruto clad in his ANBU uniform, mask on his face for the world to see. He and his comrades fought to take down a group of rogue konoha-nin and he barely ducked in time for a _Katon_ jutsu to fly overhead.

Naruto's opponent was a large grizzly man who had been passed over for Jōnin and left with this group to join another village. _Squad Ro_ had the honor of disposing of them before they left the country.

A mighty arm lashed out at the blond with surprising speed for the size of his adversary. Naruto, with greater speed leaned out of the way, unsheathed his tantō and sliced it vertically to sever the arm. The man wasn't looked at for a Jōnin position for nothing as he easily backed away and weaved several seals ending in tiger getting Naruto's attention.

He only had a few days of practice but it was now or never. Naruto weaved several hand-seals ending in a strange variant of the bird seal. Naruto's chakra flared and the area in front of him started to shimmer, his chakra was pushing itself together condensing over and over folding in on itself. This was the legendary method the Nidaime used to create _Suiton_ jutsu without a nearby source, he could create a monsoon in a desert. Small orbs of chakra came to life in front of Naruto as his chakra continued to rise, the water came together to take shape. Naruto may take longer and the quantity wasn't as large, but the results were the same.

 _Suiton: Suijinheki!_

Naruto's wall of water formed in less than two seconds and blocked the stream of fire that was released from the rogue ninja. Slightly out of breath Naruto jumped to a higher location to take stock of the battlefield. He could see large branches and roots crushing and stabbing shinobi in the distance- _Tora-Taicho's_ handy work and he could hear the sounds of conflict originating from _Gorira_ and _Kaito._ The four man squad was outnumbered three to one yet they were winning.

Naruto gripped his tantō tightly and steadied his breathing. At his level of proficiency he used a tremendous amount of chakra creating water and would nearly pass out from anything higher than the water wall at this point. His opponent, he found through the steam, was crouched behind a tree clutching a kunai obviously waiting for Naruto to come through. ' _Amateur tactics like that are obviously the reason he wasn't promoted_ ' Mentally snorted Naruto.

Naruto concealed himself in the _Torapen no Jutsu_ as he silently made his way to his opponent. He could hear the mans rapidly beating heart from his position right behind him, the frantic breaths that the he was desperately trying to conceal. Naruto steeled himself and put his blade to the man's throat. He could barely widen his eyes in shock before Naruto slit his jugular ending his life.

As he fell to the ground Naruto slapped his palm on the earth for a low level jutsu to take care of the body. It was standard procedure, no remains, no traces. That was the fate that awaited you should you cross the ANBU- an unmarked grave in a forgotten part of the forest.

' _It's gotten easier since_ that _mission, I'm no longer hesitating._ ' Thought Naruto, it may have been a few months since his fated _Kumo_ mission but he was only now back able to finish his opponents without hesitating.

Knowing that his team needed back up, Naruto made his way towards _Kaito_ and _Gorira_ both tag teaming four rogue-nin themselves. Still concealed under his Genjutsu Naruto crept around the tree and held his blade in a reverse grip while he waited for the opportunity to strike.

 _Gorira_ replaced himself with a splintered branch to avoid a bullet of fire and flickered towards his opponent. The rogue-nin was unprepared for the vicious kick to his back that impacted with a similar sound to that of a whip cracking. The rogue-nin screamed in pain for half a second before _Gorira_ snapped his neck and buried him in one fluid motion.

A kunai flew through the air towards _Gorira's_ neck that was stopped by a shuriken originating from _Kaito_. The ANBU in question kicked his opponent away and sped through hand-signs, his opponent following suit but the ANBU-trained shinobi was much faster. A compacted stream of wind cut through the air with no visible indication, the rogue-nin was hit center chest and blood flew through the air splattering all over the grass staining it red.

The final two rogue-nin came down on _Kaito_ and _Gorira_ in that instant. Both shinobi froze as the air distorted behind them and their heads fell from their shoulders. Naruto canceled his Genjutsu and let out a grunt, utilizing the _Shunshin no Jutsu_ while under a Genjutsu was really difficult but his teammates wouldn't have made it otherwise.

Naruto landed in between his comrades slightly panting, the two shared a look before giving a respectful nod to their squad-mate.

"Appreciated _Same._ "

"Thanks."

Naruto nodded and the three shot into the trees to find their captan, he was facing the most of them alone. But they were in the forest, and _Tora_ was at his best in the forest. The already elite shinobi was even deadlier in his element.

When the three ANBU arrived they came to the scene of shinobi impaled or crushed by large wooden spikes and a slightly out of breath _Tora._ Naruto still couldn't believe the versatility of the _Mokuton_ kekkei Genkai, the blond shivered slightly while thinking about the Shodaime.

"Clean up. We'll move out in one minute." Ordered _Tora_ while holding the snake seal to retract his self created wood back into the earth. Naruto and the others quickly performed the low-level _Doton_ jutsu to rid of any traces of the rogue-nin, when it was done the four-man squad flickered out of existence to head back to Konoha.

The entire confrontation barely lasted five minutes.

xXx

"So then I said that Naruto-nii was going to come back since I'm his favorite and-" Naruto smiled as he listened to Yui as she retold the events of the last two weeks that he's missed.

Naruto couldn't find it in himself to spend longer than that without visiting the excitable girl. The way she brightened up when he visited made happier than he could ever verbally admit.

"Naruto-ni!" Naruto snapped out of his thoughts at the girls yelling.

"hm?"

"I was asking you what you have been doing lately." Pouted Yui, she didn't like it when people ignored her especially her big brother.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

 _A sword pierced his enemies neck and he turned the body to keep the blood away. Naruto moved on to the next without skipping a beat to finish his mission._

"Just hanging out with friends, nothing too exciting."

Yui nodded and a smile broke out on her face as she continued telling him about her day. Gesturing animatedly with her arms to emphasize the events while he listened with a small smile.

' _You don't know how much you brighten up my day Yui-chan…_ '

xXx

Water. It was made of two elements- Hydrogen and Oxogen. The process of the Nidaime's unique _Suiton_ manipulation involved spreading his chakra out into the air in a very fine wave, folding his chakra in on itself then sort of _rubbing_ the two pieces together and repeating the process over and over until the sufficient amount of water is created. The process was much more complicated but Naruto couldn't really think of a different way to describe it.

While the Nidaime could do this process in an instant and create tidal waves on command with only a single hand-seal, something that deemed him the greatest water user to ever live. Naruto could replicate this with several seals and a few seconds of preparation, he couldn't create tidal waves but walls of water were well within his capabilities now.

Naruto sat in a meditative position as Katsumi watched from afar, she was the only person other than the Sandaime that knew about Naruto's training. While Naruto would vehemently deny it the beautiful- if Naruto were to be honest- girl was his best friend. He didn't dare say it out loud as the she would never let him hear the end of it.

"So, you can replicate the Nidaime's _Suiton_ abilities…you going to start dressing like him to?" Katsumi had a sly expression. The Yamanaka was suddenly hit by a glob of water, she sputtered and coughed out the water then glared at her friend.

"What was that!"

Naruto opened one eye and smirked slightly. "I read somewhere that when a cat acts up to spray it with water. It just so happens that I can create water virtually everywhere, so don't misbehave." Chided Naruto with a twitching lip.

Katsumi pouted at him and went back to watching him train. "So my cousin- the loud one, keeps asking me about you. I told her that you weren't interested in such things though so you're welcome."

"Oh?" Naruto opened both eyes at that. "You were right, I'm not interested in such things. Right now." Naruto finished with a smile before going back to his meditation.

Katsumi huffed and continued to ask questions ranging nonsense to suggested training methods for her Genjutsu. Both liking each others company and the quiet pause between missions that are becoming more and more scarce.

xXx

It was a red alert in Konoha, Chūnin Mizuki had just stolen the _Scroll of Seals_ from the Hokage's vault. The how would be sorted out later but Naruto and nearly the entirety of the ANBU Black Ops were searching the forests for the now rogue-nin.

Naruto and Katsumi both clad in their ANBU uniforms, masks for the world to see as they searched the section of the forest near the western walls of the village. Katsumi was a Yamanaka- they were natural sensors, and she was quite skilled in the art.

 _Hostile - Medium to Large Chakra - Possible Target._

Naruto nodded at the hand signs and they both concealed their chakras as they approached. Down on the forest floor was they target- Mizuki. He was in his standard Chūnin garb with two very large shuriken on his back. The scroll was set on the ground as he checked over his gear. Naruto went through hand signs to inform his fellow blond ANBU of his plan.

 _Secure Package - Report Back - I'll dispose of the Target_

Naruto rolled his eyes behind his mask when Katsumi signed back in a clipped sort of way as her hand movements were like angry jabs. Naruto waved her off and with a raised fist Katsumi nodded.

Naruto took out a kunai and launched it towards the Chūnin who reflexively jumped away, separating himself from the scroll. Naruto jumped in between Mizuki and the scroll while Katsumi grabbed the scroll and flickered away to report back to the Hokage.

"Bastard!" Roared Mizuki as he threw one of his very large shuriken at Naruto. The blond ANBU lately moved out of the way and unsheathed his tantō. By the time his blade was out the other shuriken was flying at him.

Naruto deflected the metal star with a grunt of effort and tried to find Mizuki who used that second to speed out of sight. Naruto stretched his chakra outwards, he might not be the best or even very good at it but he could tell if someone was near enough.

Mizuki's chakra from behind the nearest tree was flaring wildly. His body became larger and took the appearance of a bipedal tiger, his hands turned to claws and his eyes became wild.

"I'll kill ya with the power _he_ gave me!" Naruto didn't know or care who _he_ was but prepared himself none the less.

The mutated Chūnin shot forward with incredible speeds nearly hitting Naruto, the blond rolled away and jumped over the low kick. A high kick was the rogue-nin's response, Naruto blocked the blow but was sent to the ground. Naruto put his hands to the ground and flipped himself to his feet. He's taken worst hits but that was pretty nasty one.

Naruto watched his target with unflinching eyes as he sent a thin wave of chakra outward. The chakra folded in on itself over and over becoming more and more dense. The air became heavy with chakra and the space between them shimmered slightly.

Globs of water were created in the space between Naruto and Mizuki, while the mutated Chūnin charged forward to re-engage, Naruto weaved seals at lightning speed. The water surrounded Naruto for a moment before becoming larger and larger and taking shape.

 _Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!_

The water took the shape of an enormous dragon with yellow eyes that flew at the charging Mizuki with frightening speed for something so large. The Chūnin was unable to react in time as the B-Rank jutsu hit him with the force of a train. Mizuki was flung back into the nearest tree, the sound of a thunder clap spread through the forest as jutsu, tree and human all hit one another with ridiculous amounts of force.

Naruto let out several pained breaths, it was one thing to do this in training and another to do it while in combat. He has had a little less than six months with the book from the Nidaime's section of the Hokage vault and he is only just starting to be able to form the dragon in a reasonable amount of time. The first time took nearly two minutes, he's gotten it down to seven seconds. The Nidaime could to it in an instant. Naruto wasn't as good as the Nidaime- not yet.

Naruto and Katsumi, still clad in their ANBU uniforms knelt in front of their smoking leader as he looked over the scroll in his office. His face was as hard as stone, his ever present pipe hung loosely from his mouth.

"It's unharmed and the protection seals are still in place." Muttered the Hokage before setting down the large relic of a long past age. "If what you have told me is true…then we have a much bigger problem then I had realized."

On the one hand it explained how Mizuki knew how to get to the scroll, the Sandaime at one time brought all three of his students to the vault. But on the other hand, Orochimaru has moles inside of the village and is getting much more bold with his actions.

"I want both of you to keep the events of this mission to yourself, we can't let any other undercover agents know we know who they work for." Order the Sandaime. He sat back down behind his desk with his hands held in front of his mouth.

"Dismissed."

Sarutobi watched as the two ANBU flickered out of existence as he took several long puffs of smoke to calm his nerves. The inevitable meeting with his former rival that was on the way would be a stressful one.

"Hiruzen," The Sandaime sighed as he turned to the corner of his office. He closed his eyes while he waited for Danzo to speak.

The seemingly paralyzed elder of the village stepped out of the shadows and stood like a statue in front of his leader. "We will have to handle this very carefully, but I have a lead."

Hiruzen's eye opened and the normally grey and grandfatherly gaze was now full of unspoken fury. Danzo's face remained expressionless but he let a mental smirk out, it was truly entertaining to see his former rival worked up.

"Go on."

Danzo tapped his cane twice and an ANBU appeared before them and knelt in front of the two living legends. He wore the standard ANBU uniform with a ninja-to diagonally over his right shoulder. His mask was a completely solid white. Hiruzen eyed the shinobi seriously, this was a _Ne_ operative, a shinobi that basked in the darkness and hated the light.

"This is Fū." The shinobi removed his mask and his expressionless gaze was for the world to see. "He was the Yamanaka given to the organization fifteen years ago, he is one of my top operatives. He recovered several memories from the deceased Chūnin."

Hiruzen gestured for Fū to explain. "Hokage-sama, Chūnin Mizuki was conversing with a hooded shinobi between the ages of eighteen and twenty, medium build. Most prominent however was his high levels of Medical Ninjutsu knowledge and expertise. The subject was experimented on several times by the hooded figure. That person was also the one who inject the curse seal into Chūnin Mizuki."

Fū left without another word and the two elders sat in silence, one waiting while the other pondered on what to do.

"That is a significant mole, not many fit that description." Muttered Hiruzen with his eyes closed. "Of all my shinobi none fit that actually, the age is wrong or the skill is wrong. Which can only mean one thing…"

The mole has been there for a _very_ long time and was extremely dangerous.

"The mole doesn't know we took Mizuki's body for testing, and we can use this to our advantage." Said the War hawk, he himself still thinking over what to do and how to proceed.

Hiruzen grunted and turned to look over his village out the nearest window. "With this, the situation in _Yu no Kuni_ and the constant prodding from _Iwa._ It could be in a month or in a year, but one thing is certain- war will be soon."

"The situation in _Yu no Kuni_ can be mended quickly. The mole however will take time, I will have my forces working to secure our village from the shadows." Danzo's lone eye opened to gaze at the Hokage. "I have heard news of our resident Uzumaki, he has become quite adept with _Suiton_ from what I understand _._ "

The Sandaime nodded slightly. "His Uzumaki _Suiton_ affinity is strong, and his talent for the shinobi life has been proven many times in his career. I will slowly allow him more of the Nidaime's notes, he will grow in power and an arsenal will be utilized that has not been seen in nearly half a century."

"He has stabilized well after the _Kumo_ fiasco, to think that they managed to birth a male bearing the byakugan." Danzo's voice was agitated, but on the inside he was curious as to how they managed such a thing. Their work with the cells of the Shodaime never came close to a success until Tenzo, yet they did it quite fast.

"He is his father's son. Minato did atrocious things for the village yet never let it affect him." Replied Hiruzen. Some of the things that Minato did during the war were horrible even to Hiruzen, the death of Obito and Rin were followed by thousands of _Iwa_ and _Mizu_ shinobi respectively. It ended the war yet it left a bad taste in his mouth, long lasting peace could never be achieved with the deep seeded hatred that Minato sowed in the span of three months. But yet, Hiruzen was not hypocritical enough to say that he wouldn't have done the same thing in Minato's situation.

"Few shinobi are born in peace times with such a mentality." Danzo's monotone voice didn't portray the slight praise that he was giving out. "Is his goal still the same?"

It was no secret to the two of them that Naruto had been looking into the identities of his parents. While Naruto was more than strong enough and had enough digression not to spout it to anyone. They agreed to leave the blond in the dark, the motivation was enough so far that it pushed Naruto into the ANBU at record speeds. Why not let it go for as long as possible?

"I was considering that we should inform him soon." Responded Hiruzen. "But he is approaching Jōnin class and I don't want him to slow his progression. He has stopped looking into when _Tora_ informed him of the Captan-level clearance. So he will remain ignorant until then or he achieves _Elite Jōnin_ status."

"Very well."

Even though the prior topics were extremely classified, there were no seals beyond the standard ones that were inscribed in the walls of the Hokage's office. That changed when Danzo tapped his cane on the ground and a seal spread to keep the next conversation truly secure.

"He is progressing extremely fast. He has no really natural talent but with the beast he can take a beating and get up again even stronger. The chakra is far more corrosive than expected but he has gained control of a full cloak and one tail."

Hiruzen closed his eyes yet again to further think on the new information. "Should Jiraiya be brought in?"

Danzo nearly snorted at the offer. "No. I am more than capable in the art of Fūinjutsu to handle this myself."

"Very well."

xXx

In the latest briefing Naruto learned that on the border of _Hi no Kuni_ and _Kusa no Kuni._ Several _Iwa_ squads have been operating on missions near the border or on the _Konoha_ side. It was cause for concern that their mortal enemy was getting more and more bold.

Several Squads have been dispatched to secure borders. _Alpha_ and _Beta_ squads- the assault teams, have been sent to intercept any and all foreign shinobi coming from that border. Squad _Ro_ wasn't given any express orders about the border situations but were on standby to back up the assault squads should it be needed. _Tora_ told them to up their individual training in the time being as he expected deployment in the coming weeks.

With that in mind Katsumi asked Naruto to be her sparring partner in their off time, Naruto was more that happy to oblige the Yamanaka. Who was he to deny a beautiful girl that wanted to spend time with him?

Naruto learned everything from the Nidaime's book and returned it to the Sandaime, it was most curious when the Hokage gave him another- _Suiton: Suishōha_ and told him to do it again _._ While Naruto already knew the jutsu, the notes by the Nidaime were far more informative that the scroll given to him by the Sandaime during their first training session.

The Uzumaki ANBU was making headway in Fūton as well, he and _Kaito_ were training together once a week with the volatile element. Naruto's training in the element was more focused on pressurized base jutsu, while more chakra taxing, the results were well worth it. After all, crushing a tree to splinters with a couple of hand-signs was far from useless.

Naruto entered the ANBU HQ without a word, he was summoned to his captan's office for an assignment briefing. _Tora_ wasn't forthcoming with information but he made it seem urgent, the last time this happened Naruto nearly had a mental breakdown by the end of it. So he was a tad nervous about what was to come.

The masked clad shinobi rapped his hands on the door and entered when given the go ahead. His captan sat behind the desk with his mask off, it was extremely rare for _Tora_ to be seen without his mask, last time was in _Kumo._ Another positive sign of the conversation to come.

 _"_ We have been given an assignment to _Yu no Kuni_. A clan by the name of Abelard, has been rising in numbers. A Jōnin on a recon assignment estimated their numbers in between ten and seventeen. _Squad Ro_ will be dispatched to deal with them. _"_

Naruto took in the information with furrowed brows behind his mask, this was a standard assassination mission, not some extremely secretive black op.

Naruto took off his mask and put it on his belt. "Why am only I being told _Tora-taicho?_ "

"Tenzo," The man had a hand raised to stop Naruto. "When my mask is off I am Tenzo just as you are Naruto. I will brief the others later but I wanted to inform you now because I wanted to ask you about something without anyone around."

Naruto gulped slightly hearing that, this should be good. "During your time as a shinobi, how many medics do you know between the ages of eighteen and twenty?"

That wasn't what he was expecting but Naruto answered. "Not many, only the chief's son, Kabuto I think his name was. He's a Genin, I actual went on a mission with him during my time as a Chūnin. He's very capable as one would expect from being taught by the chief himself, but he couldn't utilize the _Chakra Scalpel._ "

Tenzo nodded silently. "That was my answer as well. Very well, report to the roof at 1400 hours. Dismissed."

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes_**

Okay we're at the graduation of the rookie nine- or eight? Any way- Naruto is now twelve and has been in ANBU about a little over a year now. While he's not some Sharingan wielding god ninja like Itachi and nearing S-Rank already he is coming into his own.

Naruto has been given the notes left by Tobirama to recreate his water ninjutsu skills! This was my intention from the beginning with his water affinity, it's always been weird how few fan fiction have Naruto with a different affinity. That are good I mean, some stories have Naruto using several bloodlines killing kage when he's like ten haha.

So who was thinking that Sarutobi Kento was the Jinchuriki?! Well HA! I wasn't going to cliche this into a non!Jinchuriki Naruto and the jinchuriki be a Sarutobi. Stay tuned as the next chapters cover the Yu no Kuni mission and another after that before the exams.

There is a link to a map in my bio that will be used as a basis for my stories from now on. Check it out.

Please leave a **_Review!_**

 ** _Original Jutsu_**

 _Torapen no Jutsu_ (Transparency Technique) B-Rank: Created by Kurenai Yuhi. This user surrounds themselves with chakra to distort the air around them to bend light allowing them to appear invisible. If the user wants to conceal others within the jutsu they must be of similar or smaller sizes.


End file.
